The Three-Leaf Clover
by GengaJupite
Summary: Sora is an average guy, living life as normally as he can while flying under the radar. Working his plain job while he finishes up his senior year, everything seemed to be going as planned until he met Kairi, perhaps the most bubbly and spontaneous girl in existence. With her help, Sora begins to understand the importance of being cast in a supporting role next to the star. SoKai
1. On the Night I Met You…

Hey, everybody, GengaJupite here! It seems I can't stay out of the KH fandom, despite my efforts to keep myself writing only two multi-chaps at a time. This will be my second KH story, and for those of you who read _All's Fair in Love and War_, this is the SoKai I mentioned, though I didn't plan on writing it for quite some time. Well, you can ignore that statement because about a week after I posted the epilogue to that one, I suddenly got hit with inspiration for a new plot. This one should be quite a bit more structured than AFiLaW was, as I don't plan on deviating from my plotline the way I did with that. Anyway, that's enough for now, so let's get started!

Disclaimer: I do not own Kingdom Hearts. All rights go to Square Enix and Disney as its respective owners.

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_**The Three-Leaf Clover**_

_Prologue: On the Night I Met You…_

All was still on the evening that the thick clouds rolled in above the city. The streetlights flickered dimly, illuminating the brick-paved streets in a dull glow. Most houses and apartments kept their lights turned off at this hour, and the city itself seemed to sleep under the blanket of condensation floating overhead. With the chilly weather, it would not be long before the first few snowflakes began to descend upon the sleeping town.

With large headphones covering his ears, Sora paced down the empty streets of Twilight Town. He wore a nondescript expression on his face, keeping his hands in his pockets to warm them. In his right hand he held his trusty music player and in the other a note from his younger brother Roxas, stating that he would be working late. With nothing of particular interest to keep him at home, Sora decided to take a walk through the sleeping city, as he often did at times like this.

The spiky-haired brunet scoffed as he passed by a sign advertising the Clock Tower Hotel. If he had one munny for every time some misinformed tourist took a trip here under the impression that the city was perpetually stuck in one time of day, he would probably be a very rich man. He had no idea where such an absurd urban legend had come about, but rest assured, Twilight Town was named for its beautiful appearance at dusk, not some ridiculous assumption that it could keep the sun in one spot indefinitely.

As a chill wind blew by, Sora shivered slightly and zipped his jacket up to his neck. Sighing from the slight added warmth, he watched a snowflake gently float down through the fog of his breath. Casting his gaze upwards, the snow seemed almost like tiny cottonseeds, floating aimlessly in the wind as they descended upon the land.

Turning at one of the many intersections, Sora found himself traversing through one of Twilight Town's many residential districts. He knew the city well enough that he could wander pretty much wherever he felt like, but because of recent economical expansions in the past few years, there were a number of areas he had yet to explore. On evenings when he had nothing better to do, he usually spent his time wandering through these places, learning the layout of the town and how each section was like or unlike the others.

Suddenly and without warning, something ran into him from behind, and because he was unaware of the oncoming collision, Sora was promptly knocked to the ground. Grunting in discomfort and reaching for the headphones that fell off his head, he angrily looked up to see a redheaded girl catching her balance before running off without a word or even gesture of apology. He had to admit that he didn't stand out much, aside his hairstyle, but that girl acted as if he hadn't even been there.

"Stupid ditz," he muttered under his breath, placing the headphones around his neck and brushing himself down as he stood back up.

As he was about to continue walking, something on the ground caught his attention. Stooping over to pick it up, he realized it was a wallet, most likely dropped by the girl when she crashed into him. Now, normally after being knocked over and left without so much as an apology Sora would simply ignore any problems associated with said person who'd gotten him, but he wasn't vindictive enough to steal a girl's wallet after so small an incident. While he was certainly annoyed, he knew that the right thing to do would be to return it to her while he had the chance. Sighing, he stuffed the wallet in his back pocket and began to chase after the girl, who was now quite a fair distance ahead.

"Where the hell is she running off to in the middle of the night?" he grumbled, panting as he started gaining on her.

He silently hoped that no one would be awake to see them, as it probably looked like he was some shady character trying to get some action from an innocent girl wandering the streets at night. Trying to convince the police that he was simply trying to give back her wallet after she knocked him over would probably be next to impossible. Given his track record of being a delinquent at school, even his police officer uncle would have a hard time believing his story, given the circumstances.

With that thought in mind, he figured that he was probably close enough to call out after the girl without causing too much noise.

"Hey!"

Obviously surprised by the outburst, the redhead quickly spun around; however, the weight from the large bag slung over her shoulder flung her around harder than she'd intended, and she just so happened to step onto a patch of black ice as she stumbled off balance. Letting out a light squeal, Sora watched as the girl's feet slipped out from under her and she fell to the ground hard, knocking herself unconscious as she did so.

"Ugh, you've got to be kidding me," Sora groaned as he slowed down beside her. As if the circumstances hadn't been bad enough already, now it looked like he was some kind of mugger or rapist, and all because he was trying to be the good guy to a clumsy ditz.

Unsure of what he should do, Sora looked around and shook her lightly, then a little rougher with each subsequent shake. Luckily she still seemed to be breathing, but he dared not slap her or yell loudly in an attempt to wake her up. At this point, he simply wanted to avoid drawing any more negative attention to himself, though the situation had already reached a fairly dire point of no return.

The easiest thing to do at this point would be to leave her and her wallet, but he wasn't really the type of guy to leave a girl lying out in the cold, especially since it was snowing. Seeing no other option at this point, Sora sighed and slung her weighty bag over his shoulder. Then, after a solid fifteen minutes of struggling to do so, he managed to get her lifted onto his back, though he probably wouldn't be able to hold her up for very long. To make matters worse, this was one of those unfamiliar sections of town, so he had no clue which direction to start walking.

"This bag weighs as much as she does," he grunted, readjusting her as he looked for some place where he could at least lie her down comfortably.

As luck would have it, a small park loomed about a block away, and Sora wasted no time in laying her down on a bench upon reaching it. He rubbed his sore shoulder and gratefully dropped the large bag on the ground next to him. As curious as he was to know what was making the bag so heavy, he knew better than to go through a woman's belongings, even if said woman had caused him no end of grief in the extremely short time he'd become aware of her existence.

Now that he was here, Sora wasn't exactly sure what he should be doing. Would it be okay if he left her now? The gazebo overhead would protect her from any snow, and the bench seemed like it would be more comfortable than anywhere else he could think of leaving her. It wasn't like he had any sort of obligation to stay with her; he could simply leave her wallet and go back to wandering the streets like nothing happened.

While that truly seemed more favourable at the moment, his conscience told him that he should try to wake her up, even if it was the middle of the night and she would probably stay knocked out until morning. He certainly didn't want to stay out all night in the freezing cold and stand guard for this random girl, but if he left, then there was the risk of an actual thug coming along and having his way with her. Considering that she wasn't a particularly ugly girl, he doubted she would get left alone if some goon really did wander by.

Stepping a little closer to her, Sora was able to get a better look at her face. While his initial thought had been simply that she wasn't ugly, he could now see that she was actually quite attractive, cute even. Her shoulder-length, crimson hair rested a bit messily beneath her head, and her creamy, smooth skin seemed almost too perfect to be real. As his gaze wandered downward, he couldn't help but blush at her athletic figure. She most certainly wasn't the most well endowed girl he'd ever seen, but her…womanly features were not lacking by any standards.

Sora jumped when she shifted slightly, groaning as she began to stir. He had planned to stay with her until she woke up or until daybreak, whichever came first, but he hadn't thought far enough ahead to consider what he might do in case she woke up. Now that it was happening, he was in full-blown panic mode.

Unable to decide on what to do, he simply stared as she opened her large, indigo eyes. It seemed to take her a moment, but the moment she locked eyes with him, both individuals simply stared at one another in shock. Sora's hand fidgeted as he tried to reach into his back pocket, but he was afraid that moving too quickly might freak her out. If that happened, she would probably scream and cause a scene.

"U-Uh, 'morning." His mouth almost seemed to move on its own, and he quickly bit onto his tongue to prevent anything else from escaping.

The girl blinked a couple of times, though her nervous expression seemed to fade a bit after she'd properly assessed his words. She obviously didn't seem comfortable with the situation, but Sora was relieved that she appeared to be slightly more at ease.

"Um…where am I?" she asked, quickly glancing around before turning back towards him.

Now, how was he supposed to answer? Saying something like "At a park" seemed a bit too…blunt, but it wasn't like he knew where they were. And should he tell her that he carried her here after she fell over and passed out? Wouldn't she freak out if she found out some random guy picked her up off the ground and brought her to some park in the middle of the night? At the very least, she would get really uncomfortable.

"Oh, wait, I know this place," she said as her eyes flicked around a bit more. "I guess I didn't make it very far from home… Damn."

Make it far? That meant she was running away, right? In any case, it was no business of his. Now that she was awake and seemed to be fine, the best thing for him to do would be to return her wallet and be on his way. After all this running around and stressing out, Sora wanted nothing more than to find his way out of this section of town and go home.

"I, uh, found your…well, actually, you dropped this," he stated awkwardly, fumbling around for the wallet in his back pocket. Pulling it out, he held it out to show her.

"My wallet!" she said somewhat enthusiastically, hopping to her feet and retrieving it from him. "Hey, thanks! I don't know what I would have done without this!"

"N-No problem," he answered shakily. Why was he feeling so nervous still? It wasn't like this was the first time he'd ever talked to a hot girl before. "J-Just make sure you don't lose it again…and you should watch where you're going when you're running."

She tilted her head with a confused look on her face before realization suddenly hit her. "Omigosh, you're that guy I knocked over before?" she gasped, her hands flying to her mouth. "I'm so sorry! I was in a rush to get away from home and I totally knocked you over without saying anything! Are you okay? Are you hurt anywhere?"

"Whoa, whoa, I'm fine," he responded, holding his hands up to stop her from overwhelming him with her concern. "A-Anyway, you seem all right, so I guess I'll be on my way now."

As he turned and began to leave, the girl suddenly called out to him, forcing him to turn around. "Wait!"

"What is it?"

Jogging up to him with the large, heavy bag slung effortlessly over her shoulder, what she ended up saying caught Sora completely off guard. "Can you hang out with me?"

Dumbfounded by her question, he simply stared at her with his mouth partially hanging open. It took a moment before he could actually form any sort of response, though he felt pretty stupid for what he eventually ended up saying.

"Uh…come again?"

"I asked if you could hang out with me." Apparently she didn't find her question to be strange.

"…Not to seem rude, but…why?"

She blew a raspberry like a horse and brushed a few hairs from her face, clearly not wanting to answer his question. "Well…I need to kill some time… I mean, if you're going home, then I guess I can find something else to do…"

This definitely wasn't a regular situation. What kind of girl runs away from home, knocks a guy over, slips on a patch of ice and knocks herself out, and then asks if the guy she knocked over wants to hang out in the middle of the night?! This might happen to some of the crazy people at his school, but Sora was a normal guy; this kind of stuff just didn't happen to people like him! Besides, she was still a complete stranger, so wouldn't killing time be a bit weird? For all either of them knew, the other could be a total creep, not that Sora was, though.

"I guess I could," he answered slowly, shrugging and brushing some snowflakes from his hair. "I probably wouldn't have slept if I went home anyway."

Her face instantly lit up into a big smile and she skipped around him in her enthusiasm. "Yay! Thank you! Oh, I'm Kairi, by the way. Kairi Lea."

"Sora Gainsborough."

"Sora, huh? I like it. Sora. Sooooraaaa. Heehee."

If she weren't so cute, he would probably think she was straight up weird, possibly even a bimbo. Just what kind of girl was this Kairi anyway? He didn't like to generalize, but most girls he knew that were as attractive as Kairi generally had less than favourable personalities. Then again, it was too soon for him to decide whether or not she was actually cute or if this was all some kind of act. After all, not many normal people try to befriend random strangers in the middle of the night.

"So, Sora," Kairi said as they began walking down the street, "where are we headed?"

It hadn't occurred to him that they would need a place to go, and considering she was the one who wanted to hang out, shouldn't she have planned where to go? It wasn't like this was a date or anything where he had to take charge.

"No clue," he answered plainly, putting his hands into his pockets. "I usually just wander around. Is there anywhere you want to go?"

"Mm…" She tapped her chin with her index finger and hummed in thought. "How about the beach?"

"Pardon?"

"The beach. You know, that sandy thing on the edge of the ocean."

"Yeah, yeah, I know what a beach is. It's just…it's the middle of the night…and it's snowing…"

Kairi giggled and began walking backwards in front of him, which made him nervous considering how clumsy she'd already proven herself to be. "No one said anything about swimming, silly. I just like the sound of the waves, and it's far enough away from my house that I'll feel comfortable."

While he couldn't say he followed her logic completely, Sora had no objections to going to the beach. He'd wandered over there enough times that he wasn't exactly in a position to judge her for wanting to go there now. Besides, he, too, liked the sound of the waves, and when there were no people around or birds squawking like they did in the daytime, it made the location that much more peaceful.

As the two unlikely companions made their way down to the waterfront, they engaged in idle chatter, though Sora spent most of the time listening to Kairi rattle on about whatever came to mind. He had honestly never attempted to take part in such a random conversation, but the redhead never seemed to mind his lack of input for her seemingly endless supply of topics. From the way things were going, she seemed happier to have someone simply listen to her than an actual conversation partner.

"Hey, can I ask you something?" Sora asked once they reached the water's edge, to which she nodded in response. "I, uh, know it's none of my business, but I was wondering… How come you're running away from home?"

Kairi's bubbly demeanour seemed to deflate, and she puffed up her cheeks in a manner that read 'pissed off'. Afraid that he'd overstepped his boundaries, Sora braced himself for some kind of retaliation, though he was relieved to find that it never came. Instead, Kairi sighed and turned her gaze towards the water.

"You might think it's a dumb reason, but…I got in a fight with my brother."

"Your brother?"

"Yeah," she said, squatting down and gesturing for him to do the same. "My parents' work has them travelling all around the world, so my brother is the one who takes care of me. I won't go into detail, but basically we both got really pissed off with each other and I ran off. He's not the type to give chase because he says that I'll "just come crawling back sooner or later.""

"Will you?"

"Well…I mean, obviously I have to go back at some point, but it won't be as soon as he thinks! I have to prove him wrong somehow, right?"

"Heh, seems pretty reckless if you ask me."

Kairi scrunched her face at Sora, but seemed more amused by his statement than angered by it. "Well, what about you? Does your family know that you're wandering around the streets this late like some shady thug?"

Sora gave her a hard look for a moment before turning his attention to the water. "It doesn't really matter what I do. It's just my younger brother and me sharing an apartment. We sort of do our own thing."

"What about your parents?"

Sora didn't answer, continuing to stare out to at the water as the sound of the waves filled in the awkward silence. Because it had happened such a long time ago, Sora had gotten over the pain of talking about his parents' accident, but regardless of whether it hurt him or not, it wasn't the most pleasant way to continue a conversation. Typically, when given the option, he opted not to speak about it, as doing so would only make the situation more depressing.

"S-Sorry," Kairi spoke quietly when she realized she must have hit a nerve. "If it's a touchy subject, you don't have to talk about it."

Turning back towards her, he gave her a small smile. "Don't worry about it. Anyway, it's not like my brother is the only family I have. My aunt and uncle live here in this town. We used to live with them, but it seemed like a good idea for us to move out and get our own apartment once I was old enough to rent one under my name. They help us with monthly payments and some other financial stuff, but we're basically living on our own and paying most of the rent ourselves."

"Wow, either you have a really cheap apartment or you have a kick-ass job," Kairi chuckled.

"Hey, you're the homeless one right now, so I don't think you have the right to diss my apartment," Sora chuckled as well. Yawning, he stood up from his squatting position and turned his head down to Kairi. "Actually, that reminded me that I have to work tomorrow. I don't have to be up really early or anything, but it is…almost three in the morning. I should probably start heading home."

"Oh…" she responded sadly, also standing to her full height. "We didn't even get to hang out for very long…"

"Yeah, well, that's how life is sometimes."

Kairi didn't say anything, but the way she was eyeing him made it seem like she was trying to imply something. Oblivious to what it was, he simply watched as she bit her lip and twisted her body back and forth with her hands behind her back. With each passing second, she seemed to be making her expression more and more innocent, and Sora was sort of getting an idea for what she was trying to say. However, to be sure, he had to ask her first.

"Did you need something else?" he asked, crossing his arms and raising an eyebrow.

"W-ell…" she dragged out the word, stalling for time as if it might help to persuade him. "It's really cold outside…and I'm kind of homeless at the moment."

"That's unfortunate. You picked a bad time to run away."

"Right… A-Anyway…I don't really have anywhere to stay right now…"

"Bummer, maybe you could call up a friend. Though I would assume all your friends are sleeping right now."

"I think they are… So, I was wondering…and I know we just met, so I'll understand if you say no…could I maybe…you know…if it isn't too much trouble… I know you said you live with your brother, so you can totally turn me down…but, if it's okay… I don't mean to impose…"

Figuring that he'd had enough fun toying with her, Sora just laughed at her roundabout methods of trying to ask him if she could stay at his place. In any other situation, he likely would have turned her down in the lightest way possible, but for some reason, he simply couldn't say no to Kairi. There was something about the pretty redhead that made him unable to turn her away, even though she was basically still a stranger to him. He wanted to believe he wasn't shallow enough to do it simply because she was cute and attractive, but seeing as he still hardly knew her, it wasn't completely implausible.

"Come on," he chuckled when she still hadn't managed to say what she needed to. "You can stay for one night, all right? After tonight you'll have to find somewhere else to go."

Her oddly innocent expression instantly changed into a huge, relieved grin, and before he knew it, Sora found himself wrapped in a tight embrace from Kairi. He was thankful for the cover of darkness, as it hid his very prominent blushing from Kairi's sights.

"Oh, thank you, thank you, thank you, Sora! I promise I'll find a place to stay by tomorrow. I'll just call up one of my friends and then I'll be out of your hair!"

"Y-Yeah, make sure that you do," he stuttered, slowly leading the way as he tried to cool down his face, which, admittedly, wasn't very hard considering the frigid temperature outside.

When they reached his apartment building, Sora suddenly began to feel embarrassed. It wasn't as though his place was run-down or cheap; rather, it was the very definition of average. Stepping through the entrance and heading up the stairs to his floor, he realized that neither he nor Roxas had ever brought a girl back to their apartment, let alone having a complete stranger stay overnight. What would she think when she saw it? Would she be unimpressed? What if she was expecting something cool? He didn't really have anything he could call 'cool' in the apartment.

"H-Here we are," Sora said shakily, pulling out his key and unlocking the door once they'd arrived. Flicking on the lights, he cringed at the clothes lying around and the unwashed dishes in the sink. "Sorry if it's messy, but…well, there _are_ two teenage guys living here."

"Heehee, it's fine," she giggled, unfazed by the relatively small mess around the room. "My brother is the biggest slob in the world. Compared to his room, this place looks like a Swiffer commercial."

Sora chuckled nervously and gestured for her to take a seat on the couch. "Uh, d-do you want anything?"

"Mm, were you going to have something?" she asked, plopping herself comfortably onto the couch.

In all honesty, he had no idea if he was going to; it just seemed like a polite thing to ask, since she was a guest. He didn't usually eat or drink anything right before bed, but then it wasn't like he'd be falling asleep anytime soon at this rate.

"Well…I was thinking of making some…tea?"

"I'll have some too, please," she said sweetly, looking around the living space and its ordinary décor.

Unable to stop his hands from shaking, Sora started filling a kettle with water and placed it on the stove. Why he had suggested tea was beyond him, as he had never really been much of a tea drinker. In fact, the only times he ever drank tea were when Roxas made too much and didn't want to waste it. On that note, Sora became even more nervous, wondering how Roxas might react if he came home and saw Kairi here.

"So," Kairi said as Sora sat down next to her on the couch, "where's your brother? The only pairs of shoes by the door are ours. Does he wander the streets at night like some hooligan, too?"

"H-Heh, no, it's nothing like that," Sora chuckled shakily, failing in his attempts to keep his composure. "He works as a kitchen aid at some twenty-four hour restaurant. Since it's open all the time, he gets work hours pretty much whenever they need him."

"I see," she said, leaning back and relaxing a little bit more. "And what about you? You have a job too, right?"

"Yeah, though it's not as interesting as you're probably hoping," he answered plainly, getting up as the kettle began to whistle. "I'm working at a temp agency. They don't usually hire eighteen-year-olds, but I still managed to get the job somehow. I suppose I should thank my boss for being so laid-back."

"So you do office work and stuff like that?"

"More or less."

"…Ew."

He chuckled at her response, as he somehow expected her to find his job unimpressive. "Yeah, it's boring but it pays pretty well. I'd rather be financially stable than be picky about where I work, at least for now, anyway."

Bringing over two mugs of tea, he carefully handed one to Kairi, praying that his shaking hand didn't let any of the hot liquid spill onto her hands. Once she'd safely taken it from him, he let out the breath he'd been holding and sat down beside her once again.

"I guess we should figure out a place for you to sleep," Sora mused and took a sip of his tea.

"How about your bed?"

Sora had to physically restrain himself from spitting out his tea in a cartoonish fashion, though in doing so he ended up choking on the hot liquid instead. When he managed to catch his breath, Kairi's laughter stole his attention. She'd obviously meant to do that, though he didn't really see the humour in it.

"Hehe, that was way too easy," she laughed, somehow managing to keep her own drink from spilling.

Sora grumbled and coughed a bit as he extracted the last drops of tea from his windpipe. "In all seriousness, though, we'll need to find you a place where Roxas won't see you when he comes home." Stopping to think for a moment, Sora made a screwed up face when he came to a somewhat ironic conclusion. "Actually, now that I think about it, my bed is probably the best place, since we have separate bedrooms."

This time it was Kairi's turn to choke on her tea, though her coughing wasn't followed up by any laughter from Sora.

"W-What are you saying, S-Sora?" she questioned nervously, completely losing her playful tone from before. "I-I was only joking with what I said… B-Besides, we hardly even know each other–"

"That isn't what I meant," Sora explained before she got the wrong idea. "I mean I'll sleep out here on the couch or something and you can sleep in my room. You'll have to take your shoes in there too, but that way you won't get spotted when he comes home."

"O-Oh, that makes sense," she said, slowly calming down and taking a sip of her tea. "Is it really all right? If I steal your bed from you, I mean."

"I don't really mind," Sora said with a shrug. "It'll be easier for me to make up an excuse for why I'm sleeping on the couch as opposed to why I have a random girl staying overnight. But really, we should get to bed soon. Roxas will probably be home by four at the latest. I'll show you where my room is."

Standing up, he helped Kairi to her feet and led the way to his bedroom. Oddly enough, the idea of having a pretty girl sleeping in his bed didn't seem all that nerve-wracking when there was a reason behind it. He wasn't about to crawl into bed with her or anything, so any embarrassing mishaps would be avoided, assuming she didn't bump into Roxas on her way out.

"Oh, I'll grab your shoes," Sora said after he'd opened the door to his room.

"Thanks," she spoke quietly, lightly stepping through the doorway. "Hey, um…"

"What is it?" Sora asked, returning with her shoes in hand.

"This might sound kind of…weird…" she said slowly, a slight hesitation in her voice, "but…can I…can I…"

"Can you what?"

"Can I kiss you?"

As one might expect, Sora's mind instantly went blank, creating an atmosphere that almost demanded cricket chirping. Considering the small amount he had learned about Kairi in this short period of time, he was waiting for her to suddenly say "Just kidding" or "Too easy" but with each moment that her expression remained serious, he became less sure that she was playing around like she had been earlier.

"Hehe, o-of course," he answered jokingly, nervously scratching the back of his neck. "W-What girl wouldn't want to k-k-kiss some guy she basically begged to freeload off of?"

"So, you really don't mind?"

"N-Nope," he responded. While he was obviously nervous, Sora knew that playing along would be the best way to go about this. He didn't need to give her the satisfaction of teasing him again. Besides, being the average guy in life meant rolling with the punches, so playing along was a pretty natural recurrence for him. If he went along with the joke far enough, she would back down before he gave in. Though none had ever involved kissing, he knew from past experiences that this was how to deal with these kinds of situations.

Of course, his plan would have gone smoothly had it actually been a joke.

The last thing Sora expected was to feel the soft, warm squish of something pressing against his lips. Unable to move, speak, or react in any sort of way, his eyes shot wide open and he simply stared at the redhead whose lips were now pressed against his. What was he supposed to do now? Should he kiss her back? Maybe he should push her off of him. How was he supposed to know; what kind of experience could have prepared him for this?!

His nerves felt like they were on fire as they stood there kissing in the doorway to his room. She was too close for him to actually look at her, but the very fact that she was so close was reason enough to feel anxious. He was no expert on girls, but Sora could almost assuredly say that most girls did not usually kiss people they'd just met out of the blue. Then again, Kairi didn't seem to be like most girls; after all, everything that happened put her on the other end of the spectrum from the typical female in his age range.

By the time his brain began to function again, he realized that Kairi had already pulled away from him. Continuing to stare at her in disbelief, Sora slowly raised a trembling hand to his tingling lips, wondering if what just happened had been real or not. His face felt like it was cooking, and the amount of sweat that had accumulated on his palms was enough to fill a lake. However, judging from Kairi's lack of flushed cheeks or any sort of distinct expression, it seemed that she had not been nearly as affected by it as he had, assuming that kiss had affected her at all.

"Well…goodnight, Sora," she said quickly, taking her shoes from him and closing the door in his face before he had a chance to do anything.

He couldn't be sure how long he stood with his nose pressed against the door and jaw hanging agape, but when Sora finally managed to move away from that spot, he felt as though he had just finished running a marathon. Exhausted from the stress of everything that had happened in this one night, the brunet had no trouble shuffling his way over to the couch and passing out. Maybe he would wake up to discover that everything to do with Kairi had been a dream, though he somehow hoped that it had been real – at least, everything before the kiss, anyway.

The next morning, Sora awoke in an uncomfortable position. Groaning as he stretched out his sore muscles, he rubbed his eyes and saw what appeared to be a note sitting on the coffee table beside his head. Seeing that it clearly wasn't Roxas' handwriting, he quickly snatched up the piece of paper and read what it said.

_Sora,_

_Thanks for hanging out with me last night. I had a lot of fun playing around with you! I would have left you my number, but I don't have a cell at the moment. Too bad, but maybe I'll see you wandering around the streets again sometime. If you ever see me, don't be shy!_

_Kairi _

Slowly placing the note back down, Sora sighed and relaxed into the couch cushions. Apparently, everything that occurred last night with Kairi had been more than just a dream. Considering he wasn't one to go out of his way to do crazy things, the events of last night seemed almost surreal. Did things like this happen frequently for adventurous people? Maybe a better question would be: How many people are as weirdly upbeat and spontaneous as Kairi?

The sound of someone clearing their throat across the living space caught Sora's attention, and he quickly glanced over to see Roxas leaning against the wall by his room with an amused smirk on his face.

"I take it you had a fun night?" the blond half-chuckled.

"I don't know if 'fun' is exactly the right word to use," Sora responded and laid his head back down. "I'd go with…stressful…or confusing."

"Seeing how you ended up sleeping on the couch instead of in bed with that hot redhead, one of those words is probably better than 'fun.' Kairi, was it?"

Had it been any other person, Sora would have been annoyed that Roxas spotted Kairi on her way out, but considering how clumsy she proved herself to be, all he could do was laugh. He wasn't exactly confident that she would make it out without getting spotted, so the fact that she was seen only served to amuse him. Slapping a hand over his eyes, he smiled widely.

"Yeah, Kairi," he exhaled, peeking through his fingers to glance at the heart she'd drawn beside her name. "I hope…I get to meet her again."

* * *

It's a little long for a prologue, but once I started writing, I couldn't stop going. I already knew exactly how this prologue was going to play out, so all the ideas I had for embellishing what I wanted just started flying out of my head. I think that out of the three multi-chaps I'm writing at the moment, this one is going to be my favourite (at least, it feels that way right now). Oh and in case anyone was curious, my inspiration for writing this came about after I finished watching _ef: a tale of memories_, though I don't plan on using anything too much as direct references.

Hopefully this gives you a good idea of what Sora and Kairi are like. Obviously there will be some more detail on their characters, relationships, and whatnot in future chapters, but this should give a little taste of their personalities, at least for the time being.

I have high expectations for myself for this story, so hopefully you'll all stick around to see how it all plays out! Thanks for reading and please review!

_-GengaJupite_


	2. Now, We Meet Again

Holy crap, I was hoping this story would have a good start, but I didn't expect to get eight favourites within the first two days of the prologue being posted! You guys are awesome, and I'll do my best not to disappoint! I'm going to try to reach that ever-elusive three-digit number of favourites with this story. It'll be a huge challenge, especially since I haven't reached even half of that on any of my current stories, but if there were ever a story for me to go for it, then this would be it!

Disclaimer: Refer to chapter one

* * *

_Now, We Meet Again_

Light streamed in through the high windows encircling the walls of the train station. The sound of hissing steam and the trains' brakes filled the building, overlaying any sounds the minimal number of people within the station may have been making. Occasionally, an incomprehensible voice would announce something through the PA system, though it seemed to be more of a formality about which trains were coming and going as opposed to anything someone might have to listen for.

The large clock atop the attached hotel rang out to indicate one o'clock in the afternoon. As most people were at work or attending school, only the staff and odd handful of others occupied the large building. Of these people were a pair of delinquents who often frequented this spot when school became too much of a hassle to go to.

"Geez, I thought you were gonna quit soon," Sora complained as he slid along the bench away from his silver-haired friend.

Smirking back at him, Riku shrugged as he lit the cigarette between his lips. "I'm working on it, all right?" he chuckled, purposely blowing the smoke in Sora's direction. "Besides, finals are coming up in a few weeks; I need to relieve some stress."

"Since when have you ever cared about your grades? You're planning on working after graduation, right?"

Blowing an O shape in the air, Riku shrugged again as he tapped off some ash. "Probably. The construction place I'm working at now said they'll offer me a full-time job as soon as I'm done with school, so I think I'll just stick with them until I can find something better."

"You take too many smoke breaks," Sora said, fanning away the bluish-grey haze that floated over to him. "What place is going to hire you to wreck your lungs?"

"Hookah lounge."

"…And that's better than your construction job?"

Riku laughed and stood up to stretch for a moment, breathing in deeply as his cigarette shrunk in size. "I'm kidding, Sora. Besides, I'm quitting, remember?"

"Could've fooled me."

"Hey, if you can spend all your free time wandering the streets looking for some girl you met, like, five months ago, then I can take my time getting over nicotine."

Sora opened his mouth to retort, but paused and closed it once he had fully processed Riku's words. Seeing that he had successfully thwarted Sora from arguing back, the silver-haired teen took one last puff from his cigarette before dropping it in an ashtray and lighting another.

Ever since that fateful night, Sora had been spending nearly all of his free time wandering the streets with the hope that he might run into Kairi again. For the first few weeks, he had no idea where to look, since she could have been anywhere that wasn't near her home. Having no luck, he eventually began to wander around the area where they had first run into each other; however, even to this day he had failed to encounter her again. Without a clue as to where she might be or if anyone might know who she is, Sora felt rather stuck.

"You want my advice?" Riku asked as he sat back down and leaned lazily against the back of the bench. "You should forget about her and move on. Is any chick really worth spending all your time on? You met her once in the middle of the night a long time ago; who's to say if she even remembers _you_ after all this time?"

It was a valid argument to make, especially since Sora had never particularly stood out amongst others. The only thing Kairi would have to remember him by would be his spiky hair, but that didn't really seem like it would be enough to get someone to remember him. It wasn't as though he was the only brunet with spiky hair, after all.

"Well…" Sora began slowly, "I mean, she did stay over at my place… That doesn't happen often with strangers, y'know."

"True, but did she pay you for your efforts? If you know what I mean."

Sora blushed and turned away from Riku, not wanting to see the sick grin on the pervert's face. "What?! No way!"

"Then you're forgettable."

"…You're a pig, you know that?"

Riku simply laughed, unfazed by Sora's embarrassed insult. "Heh, I smoke too much and I'm a pig, eh? I'd make some pretty good bacon. 'Course, I already know that the ladies love a nice slice of Riku meat."

Sora sighed and shook his head, though he couldn't help smirking at the ridiculousness of his best friend. He knew Riku too well to expect a clean conversation. It didn't matter what they were talking about; Sora knew full well that Riku could take the most obscure bits of any sentence and make them sexual.

"You guys are really going to get me in trouble one day, you know that?"

Sora and Riku both looked up to see a police officer standing before them. His expression was stern, though they could both see in his cobalt eyes that he was relaxed. Rather than panicking and trying to come up with an excuse as to why they were being a couple of troublemakers at the train station, both boys simply stayed as they were.

"You should ask for a new patrol route, Cloud," Sora suggested plainly, "that way you won't have to deal with us."

The blond officer chuckled and sat down on the bench between them. "See, that sounds good and all, but that just means someone else would get assigned to this route, and I doubt they'd be so lax about a couple of do-nothings hanging out around the station. They'd call your guardians, so Riku here would just have to talk to his parents, but whom do you think they call about you, Sora? That's right: me; after all, I'm still your uncle and technically supposed to be taking care of you and Roxas, even if you don't live with us."

Riku took a puff of his smoke and shrugged at the officer. "Eh, my folks wouldn't care too much. As long as I'm not failing and I have a plan after graduation, they don't really mind if I cut class."

Before he could take another puff, Cloud swatted the cigarette out of his hand and stomped it into the ground. Riku groaned but didn't bother lighting another one, instead vouching for some gum to freshen his breath.

"You're too young to be smoking," Cloud half-chuckled, half-sighed. "Anyway, you guys should be grateful you've got me. I know I've told you before, I don't mind if you're cutting class to go to work, but since you're just being a couple of troublemakers, I'm morally supposed to take you back to school. It's your last year of high school; shouldn't you be making memories in these last few weeks you have left?"

"Oh, I'll be making memories," Riku said deviously. "Their names are Xion, Olette, Shiki, Rosa, Rydia, Garnet, Serah, and probably a few more that I'm forgetting about."

Sora and Cloud both sighed and shook their heads, knowing that Riku was going to make some kind of remark like that as soon as he started speaking.

"I'm pretty sure all of them have boyfriends," Sora mused, standing as Cloud gestured for them to get up and follow him. "Well, except for Xion, but that's because _you're_ supposed to be at the dating stage with her…"

"Hey, we're not Facebook official, so I'm a free man until then," Riku laughed, though Sora knew that his friend wasn't the player he was pretending to be; at least, not when he was in a pseudo-relationship with a girl.

"By the way, Riku," Cloud said as the three of them exited the building and stepped up to his squad car, "I know one of the 'memories' you forgot about, and trust me, you're never going to forget about her."

"Oh? What's her name?" Riku inquired as he and Sora got into the backseat.

Smirking at them through the rearview mirror, Cloud started up the car and uttered only a single word.

"Herpes."

キングダムハーツキングダムハーツキングダムハーツ

"So, where should we go now?" Riku asked after Cloud had dropped them off at the school. "We didn't even wear our uniforms today, so we'd probably stand out more than we would if we just let them think we were away."

"I guess," Sora said while shrugging. Pulling out his phone to check the time, he slowly started walking toward the building. "It's the middle of fourth period, so we could always just sneak up to the roof or something. I'd feel kind of bad leaving school after Cloud drove us over here."

"And you call yourself a delinquent," Riku chuckled but followed after the brunet anyway.

As the two boys cautiously stepped through the entrance doors, they looked around to make sure no one was nearby to spot them. Knowing that they would basically be in the clear if they could make it past the main office, they stealthily maneuvered around the foyer to make sure they weren't seen. Successfully making it to the stairway, they silently fist-bumped and quickly made their way up the stairs.

"Do you really think one of the office people would come after us even if we got spotted?" Sora pondered as they climbed up to the third floor. "It seems like it would be more effort than it's worth."

"It would be for a regular student," Riku explained, "but you seem to forget that we're pretty infamous for our attendance records here. I'm pretty sure that you, Roxas, and I are all on the counselors' most wanted list right now."

"Heh, proba–"

"RIKU, GET YOUR ASS OVER HERE!"

Stopping dead in their tracks, both boys slowly cranked their heads in the direction of the voice to see a short, raven-haired girl storming over to them, her eyes shooting daggers into their faces. Realizing whom it was, Riku started to run up the stairs, but wasn't able to get anywhere before the back of his shirt was forcefully grabbed. Pulling as hard as she could, the girl held nothing back as she threw him onto his back at the bottom of the stairs.

"Hehe, hey there, Xion. Wow, you're looking awfully hot in your…school uniform today…" Riku chuckled sheepishly, rubbing the back of his head.

"Shut it!" Xion growled, aggressively pulling her almost-boyfriend up by the collar. "In case you forgot, we have a project due tomorrow that I have done _all_ of the work on so far! Don't think that I'll let you go just because you 'forgot' your uniform!"

Before he even had a chance to plead his case, Xion had begun dragging him back to their classroom by the back of his collar. The way Riku just sort of sighed and let it happen made the situation look straight out of a cartoon, forcing Sora to stifle his laughter while Riku whined about being only one flight of stairs from freedom. Once they had disappeared into their classroom, Sora quickly made his way up the final flight of stairs, thankful that no one from his own class had come out to witness the scene Xion had just made. Pushing open the somewhat heavy door at the top of the stairs, he stepped out into the warm sunlight.

A breeze blew by as he walked forward, shutting the door behind him. Stepping toward one of the fences that circled around the roof's perimeter, he lightly clutched onto it and peered down. There wasn't anything particularly interesting to see by looking straight downward, but Sora liked that sense of danger, even though he knew that these fences were built to withstand hurricane winds. He had always found that a bit pointless, considering Twilight Town hardly ever got anything that could even be considered a windstorm, let alone a hurricane, but it certainly gave business to the company that advertised themselves with it.

Turning back towards the door, Sora walked around the side of the entryway until the ladder came into sight. Effortlessly climbing up and pulling himself onto the highest part of the roof, he nearly fell right off at the sight he was met with.

"N-No way," he muttered.

Lying on the highest part of the roof, apparently taking a nap in the sun, was none other than Kairi. He was so shocked by her sudden appearance that he simply stared at her with his jaw hanging agape. After months of searching for her, the strange girl who kissed him was here at his school, wearing a mahogany uniform indicative of being a student here. While he did tend to skip school on a somewhat regular basis, Sora was astounded that he had never once managed to run into her at or around his school.

A strange feeling of déjà vu enveloped him as Kairi began to stir from her slumber. It was odd, but he almost felt more nervous this time than the first time he had met her. What should he do or say when she saw him? Should he hide or run away? Would it be safer to act like they were meeting for the first time again? There was no way of knowing if she remembered him, and, as much as he wanted to believe she did, Riku's claims weren't _totally_ inaccurate.

Realizing it was too late to do anything once Kairi began to rub her eyes and sit up, Sora quickly sat and leaned against one of the large metal air ducts. He wasn't about to jump onto the lower part of the roof to avoid being noticed, so his only option was to be casual and figure out if she remembered him.

"Hmm?" Kairi hummed groggily, peeking through one eye as she turned towards him.

"U-Uh, 'morning," he said nervously, feeling strange to be repeating the situation he'd experienced months before.

At first, Kairi hardly did anything, yawning and facing her body towards him slightly more; however, after a few moments of staring at him through sleep-filled eyes, she seemed to have some kind of reaction, albeit not the one he was expecting.

"I'm hungry."

Sora paused as he stared at her blankly. She still seemed like she was half asleep, but she also seemed conscious enough to know what was going on. While he was prepared for her not to remember who he was, this wasn't exactly the way he had pictured their reunion to go down.

"S-Sorry," he apologized, scratching the back of his head sheepishly, "I don't have any food on me."

Slowly looking back and forth as if someone else might appear and bring her food, Kairi sighed and laid herself back down. Just as spontaneously as she had proven herself to be, Sora stared confusedly at her as she logrolled over to him, accumulating a large amount of dust on her clothes as she did so. Not knowing what to do, he watched as she sat up and faced him directly. It wasn't until she began sniffing the air that he felt completely lost.

"U-Um, Kairi?" he said, completely foregoing the plan to see if she knew him first. "What are you doing?"

She stopped momentarily, but then began to lean closer to him as she continued sniffing. What was she, a dog or something? Even though he knew she was kind of out there, this Kairi didn't remind him of the Kairi he'd met back then at all. Maybe this was her twin sister or some kind of doppelganger. It seemed unlikely that two girls could look just like this and have some weird quirks, but Sora didn't have any other explanation for this sniffing Kairi's actions.

Before he realized, their noses were literally touching. Sora was stuck, completely lost and unsure of what to do. Her eyes were half open, but he was now convinced that she was more asleep than awake. Was she going to kiss him again? What kind of girl goes around kissing strangers?! Did Kairi have any sense of personal space?

Shakily grabbing onto her shoulders, Sora pulled the redhead away from him until she was at arms' length. As soon as he let go, however, she slowly started sniffing her way back toward him, as if entranced by some non-existent scent he was giving off.

"Sorry, Kairi," he sighed and brought his hands up to her cheeks. Pushing her back to arms' length, he gulped, shut his eyes, and clapped on her cheeks a few times.

"Ah! W-Wha–?"

Opening his eyes back up, he looked to see Kairi with an extremely confused expression on her face. Realizing his hands were still on her cheeks, he quickly took them off in a flustered manner and began turning beet red.

"Are you awake for real?" Sora chuckled nervously, trying not to meet her gaze as best he could.

"Y-Yeah, I am," she said lightly, rubbing her cheeks. "Um, do you always smack girls when they're asleep?"

Sora blinked and stared at her for a moment. Apparently she didn't realize what she had been doing a few moments ago. "O-Only if they're trying to smell my face like some crazy dog zombie person."

Kairi cocked her head back, seemingly not fully aware of what he meant. Of course, to Sora, it didn't matter whether or not she knew what she had just been doing. He simply wanted to know if she remembered him. He could ask about her crazy sleeping antics once the most pertinent issues had been resolved.

"Hey, wait a second," Kairi said, squinting her eyes as she began to examine his face a bit more closely. "You seem…familiar…"

"Y-Yeah, we've met before." Was this it? Was she going to remember who he was? Though he tried not to get his hopes up, Sora could feel his heart start beating faster as she pondered over his identity.

"Oh, you were that guy I met when I ran away!" she exclaimed excitedly, her eyes widening as she took on a bright expression. "That was so long ago! Wait…why are you on the roof of my school?"

Sora's insides were buzzing with contentment that she had remembered who he was. Smiling naturally at her, he glanced down at his attire before looking back up. "Heh, I'm not wearing my uniform, but I actually go here too. I was really surprised when I saw you wearing that uniform, though. To think that we go to the same school and haven't run into each other once in the past few months."

"Yeah, weird, huh?" she giggled, dusting off her clothes and moving to sit beside Sora instead of in front of him. "Hey, I feel bad but what was your name again? It was John, right? Yeah, it was definitely John!"

Sora blinked but laughed soon after. "Uh, it's actually Sora. Not sure where you got John from, but I suppose…there's one letter that's the same."

Kairi stuck her tongue out at him and laughed as well. "Oops. To be honest, when I re-meet people whose names I can't remember, I just say a common name off the top of my head and hope it's something similar."

"…That doesn't seem like it works too often. Do you actually know any Johns?"

"Heehee, not the point, Sora Gainsborough!"

"So you remembered my long, difficult last name but you couldn't remember 'Sora'? You're really something, Kairi."

For a moment, Kairi seemed surprised that Sora knew her name, but she quickly returned to normal. After all, by circular logic, if she knew his name, it would only make sense that he knew hers.

They sat in silence for a short period of time, and Sora began to feel strange about it. True, he had wanted to meet her again for the past while, but now that they had, he had absolutely nothing to talk about! The usual small-talk question would be "What school do you go to?" but she went to the same school as him… She didn't seem to be making much of an effort to start up a conversation, either, so the situation began to make him feel a bit uneasy. He needed something to get the ball rolling, at least.

"Hey," he said before giving himself a chance to think of anything. "Can I ask you something?"

"Sure," she answered simply.

Why did he always do this to himself? It was as if his mouth ran on autopilot as soon as he got the idea to start talking. Cursing, he racked his brain for something he could ask that wasn't completely stupid. Unfortunately, the only non-boring questions that came to mind were all sex-related, most likely from Riku's influence.

"Well…I was wondering…" he began, stalling with as many filler words as he could fit without sounding completely moronic. "I was curious…about…the first time we met. Yeah, that!"

"What about it?"

"Um…I wanted to know… Why did you suddenly kiss me?"

Kairi stared at him as if he still hadn't finished asking his question. Once again finding himself in an awkward bind, Sora twisted his mouth to the side and darted his eyes in all directions. Was it too forward for him to ask a question like that after just seeing her for the first time in months? Then again, asking about it was no more forward than the actual act of kissing him had been! Girls might be delicate people to talk about these things with, but Kairi's actions clearly showed that she wasn't exactly the shy type.

"Mm, why did I kiss you?" she mused, tilting her head upwards to think about it. "I guess…I just felt like it."

There was another awkward pause as she returned her gaze back to the brunet. Mirroring her reaction from before, Sora stared at her as if she had not given him the full answer yet. When their staring contest persisted for about a minute, he realized that that was all she had to say about the matter. Taken aback by the bluntness of why she had kissed him, Sora struggled to say something in response.

"Y-…you just felt like it? That's it?"

"That's it."

"You're not toying with me?"

"Nope."

"For real?"

"I'm being totally srs here!"

"…Srs?"

"You know, like srsly, but without the -ly."

"…Okay… Do you always go around kissing strangers in the middle of the night?"

"If they're up for it, I guess."

Sora sank back in his sitting position as he continued to stare at the unfazed redhead. How could she say things like that so…so…normally? Shouldn't girls have a bit more discretion; hell, shouldn't _anyone_ have a bit more discretion?! He could understand it if she said that she only did that kind of thing at parties or something, but she had basically just told him that she would kiss a stranger on the street if both parties were mutually willing!

Trying to calm himself down, Sora took a couple of deep breaths and relaxed a bit. Maybe he was overreacting. Just because she said that she would do that kind of stuff didn't mean she had actually done it; at least, not with anyone other than him. It was possible that she was just messing with him, knowing that he would freak out if she said something as crazy as that. If that had been her intention, then she certainly succeeded.

"My turn to ask a question!" Kairi suddenly cheered, cutting off any further thoughts that he might have had. "Hmm… Why aren't you wearing your uniform?"

Slow to react, Sora tried to collect his thoughts from the suddenness of her question. Not only had her outburst been completely random, but she was also asking quite a mild question in comparison to what he had just asked her, not that he was complaining of course. In any case, there was no reason to hide why he was in regular street clothes as opposed to his uniform.

"I was cutting class," Sora said with a shrug. "I usually skip a day or two every week, or a day's worth of classes throughout the week. School really isn't my thing."

"I bet that's why we haven't run into each other, then," Kairi chuckled, stretching her arms above her head. "As you can probably guess, since you found me napping on the roof in the middle of fourth period, I don't always go to class either. I probably don't skip as much as you do, but apparently it's enough that we never had the chance to run into each other."

"Seems that way," Sora chuckled as well, sliding down so that he could stare up at the sky. "Sometimes I skip so I can go to work, though. I prioritize my job over school. The other times, I'll usually just be hanging out around the train station with Riku."

"Riku… I think that guy hit on me before."

Sora grinned and shook his head knowingly. "Don't be offended; he's a shameless skirt-chaser. He's basically in a relationship now, but he still likes to pretend that he's sleeping around with a whole bunch of girls. Honestly, I don't know why he's my best friend."

"Heehee, sounds like you guys get along, though," Kairi giggled, also lying down so she could look at the sky.

As he was about to make another quip at Riku, Sora's phone buzzed in his pocket. Pulling it out, he looked to see that it was a text from Roxas.

_1 new message from: Roxas Fair  
__Hey, I'm at work right now and I left my wallet at home. I don't need it right away, but I was going to pick up groceries on the way back. Can you bring it to me before six?_

Quickly fingering his way about the touch keypad, Sora responded by saying he would bring it after school. Once the message was sent, he slid it back into his pocket and turned his head to face Kairi, who had also turned to face him, much to his surprise.

"Sorry, I peeked at your phone," Kairi admitted sheepishly, trying to give Sora an innocent smile. "Isn't Roxas the name of your brother?"

"Yeah, I'm surprised you remember," Sora said amusedly. "Why?"

"Oh, well," she began, her large, indigo eyes focusing away from his while she spoke, "it's just that his last name was…different from yours. Is he a stepbrother or something like that?"

The brunet wasn't surprised in the slightest at her question. In fact, most people who found out that his and Roxas' last names were different tended to ask if they were actually brothers by blood. It wasn't a particularly difficult thing to explain, but sometimes they tired of detailing their relationship and simply went with whatever people thought.

"No, it isn't like that," Sora answered plainly, turning his gaze back upwards. "Our parents didn't get married until after I was born. They were already planning to get married before my mom got pregnant, but because she did, there was a bit of a time constraint. The only reason my last name isn't Fair is because I was born early, so I'm technically a Gainsborough even though our parents are the same."

"Oh, I see. You guys don't live with them, though, right?"

"Yeah…that's right," he said quietly, hoping to avoid this conversation again. "Maybe I'll tell you about that some other time, though."

As if fate was on his side, the bell indicating the end of fourth period rang. Unexpectedly, Sora looked to the side as Kairi sat up straight. Shaking around to get most of the loose dust off, she turned to look down at Sora and smiled sweetly. He couldn't help thinking about how pretty she looked as she smiled down at him, and his cheeks flushed a light shade of pink as he tried to smile back.

"Well, it was fun talking to you again, Sora, but I'm gonna go to my last period class today. Who knows; maybe we'll see each other more often now that we know both of us go to this school."

Twirling around, she picked up the bag she had earlier been using as a pillow and skipped over to the ladder. Sitting up quickly, Sora called out to her before she could climb down and out of sight.

"Wait!"

"What's up?" she asked, only her head peeking up over the ladder.

"I, um… D-Did you ever get a phone? It'd be easier if I could text you or something… That way we won't have to risk going months on end again."

She smirked at him as the last few words slowly left his mouth. Blushing harder than before, Sora turned his head a bit, but made sure that he could still see her out of his peripherals. Flicking his eyes over to her briefly, she started giggling, probably because of how much he was blushing.

"Oh my, Sora, you're more forward than I expected," she laughed. "I didn't think you were the type to try scoring a girl's number; you really are Riku's best friend, aren't you? Heehee, well, to answer your question, yes, I do have a phone now, but I think I'll tease you a bit and make you wait until tomorrow if you want to get my number."

She slid down the ladder before he could say anything else. Scrambling towards the edge of the upper roof, he leaned over and called out to her before she could re-enter the building.

"Wait! How will I know when or where to meet you?"

The redhead paused for a moment, tapping her chin before the metaphorical lightbulb went off above her head. "Just come here at lunch tomorrow! Oh, and bring me something yummy! You can't expect to get my number for free, after all!"

Laughing loudly, Kairi slipped through the door and out of sight, leaving Sora alone on the roof. Flipping over so that he was once again lying face-up, the brunet closed his eyes and exhaled deeply. Smiling, he felt his insides warm at the thought of meeting with Kairi again tomorrow. Their meeting today had gone differently than he'd expected, but he couldn't say that he was displeased with it. Other than her sleeping dog act and a few awkward pauses, things had gone by rather smoothly.

"Getting her number for free? Didn't I offer her my house for free?" he chuckled to himself. Hearing the second bell that indicated the start of last period, Sora opened his eyes and started to sit up. "Maybe I should go to class for the last period too," he said; however, after one glance at his clothes, he laid himself back down and closed his eyes again. "Or maybe not."

キングダムハーツキングダムハーツキングダムハーツ

The school day had ended, and Sora had successfully managed to slip out of the building without being seen by any of his classmates or teachers. Once he had made it off the school grounds, he wasted no time in heading to his apartment so he could continue to avoid anything school-related.

Opening the door to the restaurant Cid's Grill, Sora stepped through the entrance with Roxas' wallet in his pocket. Sauntering over to the front counter, he waited until a cute blonde girl came to greet him.

"Hi, for one?" she asked.

"Actually, I'm here to see Roxas," Sora said, pulling the wallet out of his pocket. "He left this at home and asked me to bring it to him."

"Oh, you're Sora, then," she responded, surprising the brunet. "He's on break right now, but you can probably go into the break room with him since you're family."

"Thanks," he said, following the girl into the staff only area. Pointing him to a doorway that lacked a door, Sora thanked her again and headed into the break room.

"Hey, how was school?" Roxas asked in a mockingly parent-like way.

"Heh, I was at the train station with Riku until Cloud came and picked us up. Then I just hung out on the roof," Sora responded, taking a seat across from his brother and handing the wallet over. "Also, why does that hostess know who I am?"

Roxas tilted his head as he bit into whatever he had been eating, but realigned himself when he figured out what Sora was talking about. "Oh, Naminé? We usually take breaks together, so you've come up in conversation before."

Sora's neutral face morphed into a suggestive smirk at Roxas' statement. "So you take breaks together, eh? How long has this been going on?"

"H-Hey, shut up, it's not like that!" Roxas said embarrassedly, glancing at the doorway to make sure she wasn't standing over there. "We're the youngest ones working here, not to mention the only ones our age. It's just easier to talk to someone who isn't five or more years older than you, so we started lining up our breaks together, that's all."

"Well, she's not on break now. Am I interrupting your private time?"

Roxas groaned and smacked his forehead, earning an amused chuckle from his older brother. "What about you? You're still searching for that Kairi chick, aren't you?"

Rather than getting embarrassed like he usually would, Sora placed his hands behind his head and leaned back in the chair, grinning as he spoke down to his younger brother. "As a matter of fact, we ran into each other today. Turns out she goes to our school and doesn't like going to class much, either. I ran into her on the roof in the middle of fourth period."

At first, Roxas gave his brother a skeptical look, unsure whether he could believe him or not; however, he seemed to accept it, as Sora would have lied about it earlier than now if he had planned on making up some phony story. "Small world. So, did you hit it off and make plans or anything?"

"Eh, sort of," Sora chuckled. "She kinda teased me and said that I'd have to meet her on the roof again tomorrow if I wanted her number. I wouldn't call it a date, but at least she wants to see me again, right?"

Roxas shrugged and finished off the thing he'd been eating. "I guess. You're lucky you ran into her before you graduate, though. You'd probably just keep wandering around hoping to find her, which I'm sure was already a pain in the ass."

"Not really, I mean, I already spend a lot of my free time wandering around the city. Besides, I would've seen her at commencement, so we would have run into each other just before summer starts."

"Yeah, but now you have some time to get to know her before you start working all the time. It's not like you're taking the summer off, right?"

Sora turned his gaze out the window of the break room and exhaled slowly. "I guess you're right. Meeting her now is better than nothing, but I really wish it hadn't taken this long for it to happen, y'know?"

"Just be grateful it happened at all," Roxas jeered, tossing a crumpled napkin at his brother's head. "Anyway, my break's over, so you've gotta get out of here. Thanks for bringing my wallet."

Both of them standing to leave the break room, the two brothers headed back to the entrance of the restaurant. Sora made for the door and turned back for a moment to see Roxas and Naminé giggling about something. When Roxas looked over to him, Sora gave him a wink and a thumbs-up before turning around and leaving the building.

With his only errand of the day completed, Sora started for his apartment but changed his mind partway and began walking in the direction of the park where he had first spoken to Kairi. Maybe if he was lucky, she would be there, wandering around the same way he liked to.

"Just a few more weeks," he said as he paced himself down the street. "That's all I really have to get to know her. After that, I'll be lucky if I can get more than three days a week off of work."

Stopping to look at the school building in the distance, Sora smiled as he traced the rooftop fence with his eyes. For the first time in a long time, the brunet was actually looking forward to returning to that building tomorrow. For once, something worthwhile would be waiting for him, expecting him to come back, and it was something, some_one_ he genuinely wanted to return to.

"Looks like I'll be going to school more often."

* * *

Not quite as fluid as the prologue, but the goal of this one was to introduce all the main characters, even though Xion, Roxas, and Naminé didn't really get much face time. There are still a handful of other people that will be in the story, but they probably won't have important roles. That could change, of course, but for now these six are probably going to be the most recurrent people.

I sort of realized as I was writing this chapter that this story is a completely new branch of romance writing for me. So far, all the multi-chaps I've done have either had villains, extensive love triangles/polygons, or some kind of supernatural/catastrophic conflict, but this one is probably the most slice-of-life thing I've ever conceived, as it doesn't contain any of those. It'll be an interesting challenge, that's for sure, and definitely more character-driven.

Thanks to **KittyKat1217, darioflaman, Drzhar, **and **LinkMaster997** for reviewing! Just as a heads-up so that no one feels neglected, I only tend to respond to reviews that are long-ish in length. While I appreciate reviews of any length that provide some sort of opinion, it seems redundant for me to PM if the only thing I can say is thanks, as I always thank my reviewers in the closing A/N of a chapter.

Thanks for reading and please review!

_-GengaJupite_


	3. Learn, Live, Lips?

Didn't mean to put off writing this story for this long, but it's crunch time at school right now. I'm hoping to get at least two chapters for each of my stories out between mid-April and May, since my updating rate might be pretty slow before and after that. I can't promise anything, but I do look forward to writing this one the most of my three, so if I ever fall out of moderation, this one will likely be getting updated more consistently.

Disclaimer: Refer to chapter one

* * *

_Learn, Live, Lips?_

"Hey, Sora, did Riku come to school today?"

"No idea. I haven't seen him, but I don't think he has to work."

"Ugh, I swear he'll be the death of me."

Sora chuckled as Xion quietly fumed beside him. Glancing up at the clock, he bit his lip in anxiousness as the minute hand moved one tick closer to noon. Time seemed to slow to a crawl whenever he attended class, and in a boring class like Historical Literature, the desire to fall asleep was simply too great to overcome. Why he had ever chosen this instead of a regular English class, he couldn't recall, but at least he knew not to do so for future reference. Well, he could if this weren't the last semester he would ever attend class.

Half-listening to what the teacher was babbling on about, Sora began to tap his foot and scribble in his notebook. Usually he would try talking to Xion, but since it was near the end of the year, she was actually taking notes on what was going on in class. Unlike her unreliable pseudo-boyfriend, Xion was a good student that had aspirations of some sort, though Sora would be lying if he could remember what they were.

Darting his eyes up at the clock again, it looked as though there were only three minutes left until the lunch bell would ring. All he had to do was last for three more minutes and he could head up to the roof to meet with Kairi.

All of last night and even earlier this morning, Sora had been trying to figure out ways to get to know her better. It wasn't as though they were going on a date, so he didn't have to worry about how he looked or where they should go, but the idea of talking to her still made him anxious. Even if she had a million things to say about herself, Kairi would eventually want to know more about him, and that was the main issue: Sora wasn't very interesting.

Sure, he had a job, he'd done some fun things in his life, and he lived alone with his brother, but if he had to count the number of things that made him different from most of the people in his school, he could probably fit them on two hands, and that was being optimistic. Sometimes he wondered if he was being too hard on himself, but the fact of the matter was that he wasn't being harsh; he was being honest. After all, he wasn't saying he was a lowlife with zero redeeming qualities; he was simply an average person, another face in the crowd, a rock in the rough.

Sora jumped when the bell rang, breaking him from his daydreaming. Apparently he'd lost himself in thought and managed to kill the last three minutes by thinking about nothing in particular. Content with the result, he quickly packed up his things and hurried out the classroom.

When he stepped out onto the roof, it seemed apparent that he'd been too excited, as there didn't appear to be anyone else up here yet. Thinking little of it, he headed around the side of the entryway and climbed up to where the large air ducts were. Seating himself at the edge so he could dangle his legs over, he began taking out the two plastic bags that contained food for him and Kairi.

A few minutes went by, and he began to wonder if maybe she'd forgotten. A few other people had come up onto the roof, but they were all younger than him, and Kairi definitely wasn't one of the people with them. Perhaps he was being overly anxious to see her again. Maybe he should have tried to play it cool and shown up late. It wasn't really his personality to act like that, but at least he wouldn't look desperate.

After about ten minutes, Sora began to feel justified in his anxiousness. She might have just been going to her locker or something in the first few minutes, but it shouldn't have been taking her this long to put her books away or whatever she was doing. Was it possible that she had forgotten? Considering what little he knew about Kairi, it would not be all that surprising if she really had forgotten about meeting him. Of course, that knowledge did not put Sora at ease in the slightest.

Sighing, he slumped his shoulders and slouched, allowing his body language to show exactly how he was feeling. He wanted to believe that she was just getting held up with something, but the longer he waited, the more uneasy he began to feel. Perhaps it would have been better if he hadn't gotten himself so worked up to see her.

"Guess who?"

And as quickly as his spirit had dropped, it was instantly picked back up by the sound of her voice, though she had covered his eyes so that he was unable to actually turn around and see her. Trying not to smile too widely, Sora contained his relief and settled for playing along.

"Gee, I dunno… Riku? Roxas?"

"Hey, you could've at least guessed a girl," Kairi pouted, uncovering his eyes and plopping herself next to him. Now able to see her, Sora could tell that she wasn't actually upset, but she did look pretty cute when she pretended.

"When did you get here?" he asked, scratching his head and glancing down by the entry doors. "I've been here since lunch started and I didn't see you come up."

"Heehee, that's because I got here before you," she giggled, snatching the plastic bag of food he'd packed for her. "I was hiding behind the air duct and I thought it would be funny to see how you reacted if I didn't show up."

The brunet cast her a puzzled look, unsure of how to react to what she'd just said. "Um, I guess that's fair enough, but…did you really have to make me wait for ten minutes? I really thought you weren't gonna show."

"Sora, Sora, Sora. A man should always be ten minutes early when meeting a girl on a date!"

"W-What?!" he spluttered, thankful that he hadn't started drinking his juicebox. "S-Since when did this b-become a d-d-date?!"

"You mean you don't like me?" Kairi whimpered, putting on a display of puppy dog eyes that would probably make an actual puppy feel bad.

"N-No! I mean, I do, but that's not what I meant! I mean, I don't like you in that way that we should be on a date… I mean, we're not even friends– NO! I mean, we're just sort of becoming friends, so I can't just suddenly date you… Not that I wouldn't like to, but I'm saying that I– wait, I don't mean that I want to, either, but… Ahh…"

Kairi was literally trembling from how hard she was trying not to laugh, so when Sora eventually gave up trying to explain himself, she practically burst. Feeling embarrassed, he turned away from the redhead, only to notice that the other people on the roof had all turned to see why she was laughing so loudly. He knew they wouldn't be able to read the situation from where they were, but it didn't exactly help that they were all staring in his direction.

"A-Anyway," he mumbled once her giggles had started to die down, "if you beat me here, does that mean you skipped third period just to do that?"

"Mhm," she answered with an enthusiastic nod. "I would've texted you to come meet me, but you never gave me your number."

"That's the whole reason I'm here now, isn't it?"

"No, you're here so I can give you _my_ number, not the other way around!"

"But…if I had given you mine and you texted me…then this whole meeting would be pointless…"

"That's kind of a mean thing to say."

"So is watching me sit here by myself for ten minutes."

As their back and forth banter continued, Sora started to realize that his nervousness from before had completely vanished. Was it because he was relieved that she had shown up, or was it that Kairi put him at ease? Well, to say she put him at ease would be a bit of a stretch, considering she was the whole reason he felt tense in the first place. Perhaps he had simply been overthinking things when she wasn't around; after all, they didn't seem to have a problem jumping straight into conversation, even if it was all over the place.

"You brought me fruit gummies?" Kairi asked as she dug to the bottom of the plastic bag.

"Yeah, is there something wrong with that?" Sora responded, putting his phone away once her number had been successfully stored in his contacts.

"I'm not a little kid!" she laughed.

"I beg to differ," he chuckled as she tore open the bag and popped one of the colourful candies in her mouth. "Hey, I was wondering: do you always come up here when you cut class?"

The redhead hummed as she chewed on the gummy, wavering back and forth as she thought about his question. "Most of the time. I'm not that good at sneaking around, so it'd be hard for me to leave campus. Besides, I would feel weird if I just left the school by myself."

"What about your friends? Don't they ever skip with you?"

"Not really, most of them are at the public school anyway, so it'd be a hassle to try and meet up with them somewhere."

"Makes sense," Sora mused, loosening his tie so that he could glance at Twilight Academy's emblem on his shirt pocket. "That's probably why Roxas doesn't skip as much as Riku and I do. Unless he has work, anyway."

"Hmm…" Kairi hummed, giving Sora a hard look. "You know, now that I think about it, how come you guys are attending a private school if you live on your own? You don't have to pay anything to attend a public school, and if you're just going to cut class anyway, then there's no point in paying for this school, is there?"

Sora chuckled dryly and turned his gaze to the city. "Heh, I kind of wondered that myself, but by the time I realized it I was already starting my senior year. I guess one of the reasons is that it's easier to explain why Roxas and I are living on our own. Since a bunch of people going here live in dorms or apartments, it isn't all that strange that we are too, even if our reasoning is different from theirs. We also don't have to spend much of our income on clothes."

"Guy clothes aren't that expensive," Kairi giggled, but seemed to understand what Sora was saying. "That makes sense, though. No one at this school would make a big deal out of you guys living on your own. I wish I had enough money to move out. Then I wouldn't have to deal with all of my brother's stupid rules."

"Isn't he the reason you ran away?" Sora asked, receiving a nod in return. "He must be pretty strict if he gets on your nerves that much."

"Not really," Kairi huffed. Confused by the contradictory nature of her words and body language, Sora raised an eyebrow and waited for her to continue. "He isn't strict or anything, but he makes me do all these annoying little things like taking out the garbage and washing the dishes and cleaning my room. I wouldn't usually care about doing any of that stuff, but it seems totally hypocritical since he never cleans up after himself! He's such a lazy bum."

"You know you'd have to do all that stuff all the time if you lived on your own, right?" Sora laughed.

"Nope, I'll hire a maid!" she said proudly, as if she had already done so.

"Uh, if you hire a maid, you won't have enough money to pay your rent… Do you even know how to survive on your own?"

The redhead stuck her tongue out at him but laughed anyway. "I'm kidding, Mr. Reality Check. Still, though, I wouldn't mind saving up to get my own place someday. I'll probably have to work all summer for that to happen."

It sounded as though this was something Kairi had already planned out. While it wasn't a groundbreaking goal that she was trying to achieve, it was something she was striving for, and in that respect she was already ahead of him.

Other than knowing he would get scolded, Sora had been avoiding the school guidance counselor for one main reason: his future plans. Not everyone who went to this school planned on going to some sort of post-secondary institution, but the small percentage that didn't all had some sort of reason. Whether they were succeeding their family's business or had some sort of career path planned out, those who weren't continuing education knew what they wanted to do, and at this school money wasn't an issue for any of them.

Unfortunately, he was a rather large subject of scrutiny, as he had never filled out any of the forms detailing what he planned to do after graduation. He had enough credits to graduate and his grades were passable, so it wasn't as though he would get held back for skipping too much, but avoiding the counselors had become more difficult as the year progressed. Was it so much of a problem if he didn't know what he wanted to do after graduating? College and university were out of the question, and he wasn't going to be climbing any corporate ladders as an office temp. It seemed wrong for the school to be so forceful about making him choose a life path to follow.

"Say, Kairi," Sora said quietly as he gathered his thoughts together, "what are you planning on doing after graduating?"

Her eyes glinted and her face morphed into a devious smirk. Slightly taken aback by what that could mean, he watched as Kairi got to her feet, brushed the dust off her skirt and pointed to the sky in a dramatic, albeit unnecessary, pose. Feeling almost embarrassed to be seen with her, he glanced around to make sure none of the other students were looking at them.

"My future plans, you ask?" she announced like some sort of old cartoon villain. "There is only one place for a genius like me, and that is at an academic institution that will allow me to bring all of my plans to fruition!" Swiftly moving her pointing arm from the sky to Sora, she smirked and continued to embarrass him. "I, Kairi Lea, will go to the one school for geniuses! Radiant Garden University, or RGU for short, which stands for Real Geniuses Unite!"

"I-I'm pretty sure it stands for Radiant Garden University…" he mumbled, hiding his face so that no one would know he was hanging out with such a crazy girl. "And do you honestly expect me to believe that? That school gets applicants from everywhere; their acceptance rate is supposedly less than twenty percent! Considering only the smartest of smart people get accepted and the fact that you like cutting class, I really doubt you'll be there next year…"

"Heehee, a girl can dream," she giggled, flopping back down next to him as if she hadn't just made a complete fool of herself. "I dunno, I'll just do whatever I feel like. I wrote that down on my future plans handout and they haven't bothered me about it."

"Really, you wrote down that _exact_ speech?" Sora teased, nudging her lightly in the side.

She grinned and nudged him back. "Hey, when they stop calling you down to the counselor's office, then you can talk. Until then, I'm still better than you."

Before he could make a retort, a loud beeping sound stole Sora's attention. Reaching into his pocket, he shut off the alarm he'd set on his phone and tucked it away. Stretching out his arms and slowly pulling himself up, he looked down at Kairi and gave her a sheepish smile.

"Sorry, I forgot I had to work today," he apologized, resting his hands behind his head. "I wish I could hang out longer, but I've gotta get going if I'm gonna make it in time."

Smiling, Kairi shook her head understandingly and held her hands up for him to help her stand. "That's all right. You got my number and I got your food, so that's all we really needed to get done. I don't think lunch is going to last much longer anyway, so I should go wash the dust and stuff off of my hands."

Nodding, Sora pulled her up and picked up his bag before making his way to the ladder. Once they were inside and down the first flight of stairs, he felt somewhat unsure of how to say goodbye to her. Should he just wave and say "See ya" or were they closer than that? After all, they _had kissed_ already, so that might seem too…distant. Then again, he wasn't really sure what their relationship was now.

"Um…" Kairi said before he had a chance to make up his mind. "I guess I'll call you later or something. If I feel like it, I mean."

"Y-Yeah," he said in a slightly bashful manner, rubbing the back of his head. "I wouldn't want you calling me if you didn't feel like it."

Smooth…

Kairi bit her lip as she tried to suppress her laughter at how bad that was, but her expression was almost worse than if she had just let it out. "Ehehe, it's a good thing you're cute, Sora, because you're kind of a dork. But, yeah, _if I feel like it_. Heehee, bye!"

Waving to him as she headed off toward the girls' washroom, Kairi disappeared into the crowd, leaving Sora alone and embarrassed in the middle of the hallways. Taking a few seconds to recover, the brunet shook his head and continued making his way down the stairs. Despite feeling ridiculous about what he said, he couldn't help smiling after what was essentially a successful "date" with Kairi. Maybe she had made fun of him an awful lot, but she had also called him cute, and he could live with the teasing if he got a genuine compliment from her.

キングダムハーツキングダムハーツキングダムハーツ

"Well, you seem awfully chipper today," someone said as Sora happily strode into the temp agency. "Something good happen, kid?"

"You could say that," Sora said as he flopped down on the couch inside the rather small office. "You said I was getting assigned somewhere new today, right?"

"Did I say that? I can't remember if you even had to work today."

"…Are you serious, Axel? What kind of manager are you?"

The tall redhead chuckled and straightened his tie as if to challenge Sora's words, though he playfully flipped off the brunet to reinforce his lack of seriousness.

"I'm kidding, Sora," Axel said, strolling over to the coffee machine by his desk and inserting a few coins. "Can't you lighten up a little; I thought you were in a good mood. Besides, I've already told you a million times that I'm not really a manager, since I just assign you to places that need some extra help."

"You sign my paychecks, and that's all that matters," Sora retorted deviously.

"Little punk," Axel laughed and took a sip of his coffee. "Anyway, you don't have to head over until about two, so just chill out here for a while. The place is that martial arts dojo over by the sandlot. I think it was called…uh…" Quickly rifling through some unorganized papers, Axel pulled one out and looked at the top, "Master Eraqus Hikari-style Mixed Martial Arts. Got it memorized?"

"You always ask that and I always do," Sora responded as he took the paper from Axel. "Basic office work, I'm guessing?"

"That's what he said," Axel said with a shrug, leaning back lazily in his chair. "Their usual guy is away for a month, maybe a bit longer, so I'll try to have you and Rai alternate shifts until you're done with school."

"Sounds good, and you said I could start full time once summer starts, right?"

"Should be fine," he said, grabbing another piece of paper, "Rai's quitting anyway, so I won't need to alternate you guys anymore."

Nodding, Sora glanced up at the clock to see that it was only about 12:50. Having a lot of time to kill happened pretty often with this job, considering there was never any certainty of when businesses would need them to come in. Heading into the bathroom, he took his time changing out of his uniform and into a suit more appropriate for doing office work. Despite having worked here for the past six months or so, Sora still hadn't quite gotten used to the idea of wearing a suit to work. Most people his age worked at places where they could just wear whatever they felt like, so he almost felt like he was more professional, though he knew that wasn't the case.

After successfully killing forty minutes, Sora headed out of the building to find the dojo. Making it to the sandlot with ten minutes to spare, he calmly walked over to his destination and entered.

"Welcome, welcome," an older-looking man with long, tied-back, black hair greeted. "Ah, you must be from the temp agency."

"Sora Gainsborough, nice to meet you," Sora responded as professionally as he could, holding out his hand to shake the man's.

"And you as well. I am Eraqus, the owner of this establishment. I'll introduce you to the staff before showing you what you'll be doing, as you may need to know whom some of them are to do some of the filing."

Sora only half-listened as Eraqus went on about the random facts about his business. Most of the time, he'd found that they didn't tell him anything necessary during the introductions, and the only thing he would need to know was what he would be doing and occasionally, as was the case this time, meeting the staff so that he could do his job properly.

As they rounded a corner at the end of the hallway, they entered a large, square room with different sections designated by the equipment and type of flooring. Near the back, Sora could see the office where he would be working, as it had a window revealing a small, lit room with a computer, a desk, and a few filing cabinets and bookshelves.

Turning as three very different-looking people walked up in their martial arts gi, Eraqus allowed each of them to introduce themselves.

"Terra, senior apprentice of Master Eraqus," the tall, burly man with brown hair started. "I teach the men's category for all ages and levels."

"I'm Aqua," the pretty, blue-haired woman said kindly. "Same as Terra except for women."

"Ventus, or Ven for short," said the last of the three, whom Sora had to do a double take of to realize that it was not his own brother. "I'm just a junior apprentice, so I can teach up to intermediate boys and girls."

"And of course, you've already met me," Eraqus cleared his throat. "I can cover all levels for males and females. That should be enough information for basic filing. Any questions?"

"Terra: senior, teaches men; Aqua: senior, teaches women; Ven: junior, teaches kids; Eraqus: master, teaches everyone. I think I've got it."

"Good, if you are unsure of anything, simply come get one of us when we aren't busy and we should be able to answer any questions. All the paperwork is laid out in the office and you may use anything in there to get your work done."

Nodding in understanding, Sora turned toward the office and headed over. He was thankful that there weren't many staff members, or the workload would have gotten much more complicated. He was unfortunate enough to work in a regular office at his first location and had to remember about twenty different employees and what each of their jobs were. To be assigned to a place with only four employees was like a breath of fresh air.

Seating himself at the desk inside, he pulled the first few papers off of the stack in front of him and began sorting them by teacher, as most appeared to be student files regarding their insurance and whatnot. Sora sighed, knowing that all the lower papers would likely be the grueling ones that he would have to fill out as opposed to simply sorting into piles.

It was strange to think that this had become such a regular thing for him over these past few months. He was thankful that his early birthday allowed him to move out and start working right near the start of the New Year, but he never would have imagined himself working a plain old desk job. True, he had never really had much of a dream job, aside from when he was a child and wanted to be an astronaut or firefighter like every other kid, but he had never really pegged himself to be an office worker. He never complained, though, as it was a well-paying job and the number crunching was usually kept to a minimum.

After a few hours, he'd managed to make it about two thirds of the way down the stack. As he'd predicted, the forms had gotten more difficult as he progressed lower, and his wrist was beginning to tire from all the writing. Glancing at the wall clock, his stomach growled when he saw that it was a little past five. Since they hadn't specified how long he needed to stay, it was assumed that he could leave once all the papers had been dealt with. As much as he wanted that to spur him to work faster, Sora knew that he couldn't do a sloppy job or he would risk getting fired.

He paused as a sudden realization hit him, or rather, a regular realization that he'd experienced before.

This was his life now, and it was boring. Boring. As. Hell.

Sora didn't mind so much that he had a boring life, as long as he was able to live off of whatever boring job he had. The issue was that he would never be able to talk about himself if someone asked. This particular workplace didn't have other office workers, so he didn't have to worry about any of the staff trying to make conversation with him, but this was actually less common than most situations.

For now, he still had the luxury of saying he was in high school and trying to pay the rent for him and his brother, but he could really only use that story for a few more weeks. After that, what did he have going for him? He worked as a temp, lived with his chef-in-training younger brother, and took walks on his spare time. Out of those things, people would want to know more about Roxas than they would about him.

Thinking back to what Roxas had said to him the other day, Sora understood what he meant when he said that it was easier to talk to people around their age. Most of the time, Sora was stuck in an office with people who tended to be twenty-five and up. Speaking with people his age was easy, as he could be less formal around them and didn't really worry about boring them. A prime example was Kairi, as she hadn't seemed particularly bored by him today or yesterday.

Kairi… Would he have the luxury of meeting someone like her in the future? Someone he could be himself around and not worry about boring to tears? Kairi seemed to enjoy herself around him, but she probably had a bunch of guy friends that she could have more fun with; after all, she did say that most of her friends went to the public high school, so maybe he was just the go-to person at their school. Besides, Sora knew that he didn't see her in that way. She was just someone that he wanted to get to know after everything that happened.

Sighing, half in relief and half over his depressing thoughts, Sora stretched his arms above his head after filling in the date on the last form. It was almost 6:30 now, and he was starving. Straightening the stacks of paper, he put them into their respective filing drawers and stood from his seat, taking a moment to stretch his legs. Exiting the office, the sound of classes in the large room surprised him, as he hadn't realized just how effective the soundproof walls and window must have worked.

"Ah, have you finished?" Eraqus asked as Sora emerged into the entrance area.

"Yeah, it wasn't too difficult," he responded with a shrug. "Everything is organized by teacher, date, and anything else the document might have specified. If there are any problems, just contact my manager and he'll let me know."

"Very well," Eraqus answered with a nod of his head. "Good work today."

Nodding slightly, Sora turned and left the building, the warm, evening air gently caressing his face as he stepped outside.

The buildings glowed a brilliant orange as the light of the sunset descended upon the city. Sora swiftly made his way home, doing his best to avoid the avid tourists trying to take romantic snapshots of the city's namesake. Rounding a corner, he promptly walked right into someone and fell back, fortunately landing on the bag with his clothes in it.

"Ehe, this happens too often with us," a familiar girl's voice chuckled while sounding pained at the same time.

"Huh, Kairi?" Sora asked when he saw that it was her. "What are you doing on this side of town? Don't you live way on the other side?"

"Yeah, but my brother usually comes home around this time of day, so I try to avoid being there when he gets home," she said in her usual cheerful manner as she stood up. "Whoa, nice threads, Sora, or should I call you Mr. Gainsborough since you're looking all profesh?"

"Sora's fine," he said amusedly and also stood up. "These are just my work clothes. But back to you, it sounds like you really don't like your brother. Do you guys fight that much?"

"Mm, it's not so much that we fight as it is we aren't compatible," she said as they began walking.

"I would hope not; I mean, you're brother and sister," Sora joked, earning a playful shove from the redhead.

"Don't be gross, Sora!" she laughed. "No, I mean we just kind of rub each other the wrong way."

"I didn't need to know that."

"Ugh, stop it, you sicko!"

Both laughing as they headed in the same direction, Sora felt as though he were lighter. After stressing about work and his boring life and if he would ever be able to meet a girl that wouldn't mind all that, Kairi seemed to take the negative feelings away from him. He still didn't see her as someone he wanted to get involved with in a romantic way, but the idea itself was perhaps something that would be nice later in life. Then again, he had no idea where life might take her in, say, five years; he would probably still be here working some plain job, if not the same one.

Stopping in front of his apartment building, Sora turned to her and realized that he was in another awkward goodbye situation.

"Um…I know it's a little late to say this," he started shakily, scratching the back of his head, "but weren't you walking the other way when we ran into each other?"

"Oh, yeah, but I wasn't headed anywhere in particular," she stated lightheartedly. "I figured I might as well walk you home before heading back myself."

"Heh, isn't it the guy's job to walk the girl home?" he laughed dryly.

"It is," she said before a mischievous smirk appeared on her face, "so I guess we know who wears the pants in our relationship."

"U-Usually that's something you say about couples," Sora responded as he rubbed at his nose to ineffectively hide his blush. "A-Anyway, we hardly even have a relationship established to begin with, so there's no pants-wearer between us."

Kairi's grin spread even wider, and Sora realized that he probably said something that he shouldn't have.

"You have such a dirty mind, Sora," she giggled, which only made his blush deepen. "I think it's a little too early for us to be taking off our pants around each other. Calm your hormones a bit. I'm gonna let you go inside now because your stomach seems to be urging you."

If any more blood rushed to Sora's head, he would probably faint. How was this girl able to so easily embarrass him without feeling the slightest bit of remorse? Everything she did was so spontaneous and quirky, yet she always seemed to be in control of the situation! The only time he could remember her feeling uncomfortable was when he said she should sleep in his bed and maybe a little bit when she asked if she could kiss him.

"U-Um, yeah, I-I guess I'll see you tomorrow then," he stuttered and began to turn around. As he turned and took about five steps toward the building, Kairi called out to him.

"Sora, wait!"

Hoping that she wouldn't embarrass him any further, he hesitantly turned around and…

…felt her lips firmly pressed against his.

Now feeling like he might pass out, Sora stumbled back a few steps when she pulled away. Only registering the sound of her laughter as she ran out of sight, he couldn't even begin to question what just occurred and instead opted to simply head inside. By the time he was actually able to process what just happened, his phone buzzed inside his pocket, so he took it out to see what the message was.

_1 new message from: Kairi Lea  
__Since I know you're going to ask, there was no reason, I just felt like it again._

Slumping down on the stairs, Sora felt like he couldn't move. As he stared at the screen that displayed the text message, he couldn't decide if he should laugh, scream, or just accept it and move on. One thing was for certain, though, and he sighed as he tried to pull himself up by the railing.

"This girl is going to be the death of me…"

* * *

I'm hoping the middle section about Sora's boring life didn't…well, bore anyone too much. I figured I would have to give Sora something to think about while he was working, and that seemed to work best, even if it was boring…because that's sort of the idea… If nothing else, Kairi is fun to write, and I've always enjoyed writing Axel, even if his part in this story isn't that big.

As you should be able to tell, kissing is usually going to be pretty laid-back in this story. That's not to say that I don't plan on having some heavy kisses, but I think it sort of adds to the novelty of the important ones, as opposed to Kairi messing with Sora for kicks. What I'm going for is something that goes against the norm, that is, not a story where the protagonists are all reluctant to do stuff before they're together. Actually, I'm pretty sure all of my multi-chaps do something like that, but this one is branching even further than any of my other ones.

Thanks to **MasterKaze** for reviewing!

Thanks for reading and please review! Getting only one is, to be frank, a little disappointing, and I greatly appreciate any thoughts!

–_GengaJupite_


	4. Years Gone By: Part I

Well, I knew I was going to get behind from exams, but now that I'm done I'm hoping to get a few out before I start working. I still feel bad, though, so: much apology, many sorry, wow. On a different note, I'm contemplating whether or not to change the story summary, possibly to a line (or lines) from the story. What do you guys think; is it worth changing or is it fine the way it is. It might just be me, but I'm finding it somewhat uninspiring and awkwardly worded (thanks, 144 character limit…).

Disclaimer: Refer to chapter one

* * *

_Years Gone By: Part I_

The days seemed to go by quickly now that Sora had found a reason to go to school – assuming he didn't have work, of course. Other than the odd time when they didn't run into each other, Sora had been hanging out with Kairi almost every day. For a while, he was afraid that she might start getting irritated with his clinginess, but she gave no signs that she disliked his presence. If anything, she seemed to enjoy having him around more than he did of her.

"So, when are you gonna bone this chick?" Riku asked, frustrated that the wind on the roof was preventing him from lighting his cigarette.

"First of all, I've only been talking to her for a little over a week," Sora responded. "Second, and I know I've said this before, I'm not looking for a relationship with her."

"Pfft, who said anything about a relationship?" the silver-haired teen chuckled, finally managing to get a flame from his lighter. "This is the perfect time to do something, anyway: You haven't known each other long enough to be emotionally attached so nothing will happen after you get the deed done."

"I think that only applies to you, Riku," Roxas laughed from the other side of Sora. "Besides, maybe Kairi is actually butt-ugly or imaginary and Sora's just too embarrassed to tell us."

"Get real," Sora groaned, swatting at Roxas' head, only to miss by an inch. "She's totally real; you even saw her way back the first time I met her."

"Only her back; I wasn't going to spook her as she was sneaking out, so I just watched her leave."

"Well, that proves she's real!"

"_Real_ly ugly?" Riku jeered.

"Ugh, honestly, go to hell, both of you."

Roxas and Riku both laughed, high-fiving each other while Sora fumed against the fence. It was just like them to act like jerks when it came to girls. Well, not so much Roxas, but definitely Riku. Sora knew he should have expected this, but somehow he always held out the false hope that they would act like respectable human beings.

The rooftop door squeaked open, but Sora didn't bother turning his head to see who it was. With these two cutting class with him, it was more likely to be an angry counselor than anyone else.

"Whoa, babe alert," Riku muttered to Sora, lightly elbowing him in the side. "Check her out; I bet she'd make you forget all about your ugly girlfriend."

Without even thinking about arguing with him, Sora sighed and reluctantly glanced over to the entryway. Of course, when he noticed who had stepped through the doorway, it took all his willpower to hold back a smug grin from forming on his face.

"You should get her to come over here," Sora feigned disinterest. "I bet even you couldn't get a hot girl like her to talk to you."

"Tch," Riku scoffed, standing straight up and getting ready to walk over to her. "Roxas, I hope you're ready to watch you brother get shown up."

"No need," the blond said, "she's already walking this way."

Surprised by his statement, both Sora and Riku looked over to see that the girl was, indeed, walking their way. Riku gave Sora a smug look and quickly tossed his cigarette butt on the ground, crushing it beneath his foot. Sora was still trying his best to contain his own smugness from showing through.

"Hey, hey, how's it going?" Riku said coolly as she came within speaking distance.

Casting Riku a confused look, the redhead brushed off his greeting and smiled right at Sora. "Hey, I thought you might be up here!"

"Heh, that's mean, I go to class sometimes," Sora chuckled, ignoring the stupefied looks from his two companions. "You could've texted me if you wanted to know what I was doing."

"I guess, but that wouldn't have been as fun as searching," she said before adding, "except it still wasn't that fun, since you were in the first place I checked…"

Before Sora had the chance to say anything else, Riku cut him off. "W-Whoa, hey, Sora, buddy, you gonna introduce us to your lady friend?"

Sora gave Riku and Roxas an unimpressed look. While he wanted to blow their minds by explaining that this was Kairi, the girl they had basically been calling ugly, their complete lack of tact or restraint bothered him. They were practically drooling over her while she stood right there, hearing everything they were saying.

Rolling his eyes and giving Kairi a smile that read 'can't be helped', Sora turned his companions toward Kairi and began the introductions.

"Guys, this is Kairi, the girl I've been hanging out with for the past while, and the one you accused of being ug–"

"No way, this can't be her!" Riku growled at Sora. "No girl this hot would want to hang out with a lame-ass like you!"

"…Kairi," Sora continued, "this is Roxas, my brother. This other guy is just some pervert that you don't need to remember."

"Got it," she replied, smiling at Roxas.

"Oh, come on, man, you know I was joking," Riku laughed, sliding right up against Kairi's side. "Anyway, I'm Riku, and if you're looking for a good time, I can show it to you. You're not gonna get anywhere hanging around with Sora, so now's your chance to see how a real man works his magic."

"Wow, you're pretty forward, aren't you?" Kairi giggled, the slightest hint of malice lacing her voice. "It's a shame that I'm not into jerks. Besides…"

There was a pause as she sent a suggestive look Sora's way, causing him to blush. Both of the other guys also looked at him, wondering what that look could have meant, though each of their reactions was rather different from the other's. Sora had somewhat of an idea what she was thinking of, and he prayed that she wouldn't say anything about it.

"…Sora and I have already kissed."

She said it.

Fortunately for the brunet, neither Riku nor Roxas reacted much to this news. Instead of getting into a frenzy over how he'd managed to get a kiss from her, they both seemed to blow it off like it was nothing.

"Big deal, we already knew about that," Roxas said with a shrug.

"Besides, that was, like, way back in the winter," Riku added, continuing to push himself up against Kairi's side.

"Actually–"

Sora braced himself for what would be an inevitable attack from his friends.

"–we've done it a couple times this week. Yesterday was the latest one."

Silence. Sora watched as both Roxas and Riku stood there frozen like statues. Kairi, in her bubbly obliviousness, gave a teasing smile to Sora. It was hard to tell whether she had planned to put him in a tough situation or if she had simply thought that he would have told them by now. Any regular guy would brag about getting to first base with a girl as attractive as Kairi, but given the people he was dealing with, Sora hadn't really planned on telling them, at least not until much later.

As both statues slowly cranked their necks from Kairi to Sora, he could practically feel the tension in the air begin to suffocate him. It was tough to decide if Roxas' look of admiration and disbelief was as bad as Riku's expression of jealousy and 'I'm gonna kill you'. Honestly, Sora still couldn't believe that Xion actively wanted to be in a relationship with him.

"Ehehe…" he chortled uncomfortably, trying to fill the void of silence. "Well, um, it's fairer to say that she kissed me… I was caught by surprise every time."

Why he had chosen to say that, Sora would never know, but the moment the words passed his lips, he instantly regretted it, as the expressions on their faces only worsened. Dealing with Roxas bugging him about it at home would be easy; trying to get Riku off his case for something like this…well, the word 'difficult' just didn't seem to cut it.

"I don't really know what's going on," Kairi said, feigning innocence that was too cute for Sora to get angry at her for, "but this is getting…weird. If you guys don't mind, I'm gonna steal him away from you."

Without giving any of them a chance to react, Kairi quickly latched onto Sora's wrist and began pulling him away, leaving the other two to watch as they simply walked off. Rather than leading him to their usual spot above the roof's entrance, Kairi opened the door and brought Sora back inside. Once there, she pulled him off into the alcove next to the doorway.

"I guess I should have thought that through a little better," Kairi giggled, letting go of Sora's wrist. "Staying outside with them there would have been awkward, but I forgot that it's the middle of fifth period and we can't get spotted skipping."

Shaking his head and letting out a breathy chuckle, Sora leaned against the wall. "Eh, don't worry about it; this is better than letting those two interrogate me. Really, though, you could have left out the fact that you've been kissing me."

"Aww, you don't like it?"

"It's embarrassing…"

Kairi laughed as Sora began to blush. Since it had happened a few times now, he no longer bothered trying to make her stop, but the sporadic smooches weren't getting any easier to deal with. In all fairness, he didn't dislike them – not at all – but the spontaneity of it all was more than someone like him could deal with. What made her want to kiss a plain guy like him, anyway? Or was it the fact that he was so plain and unsuspecting that made her want to mess with him all the time? He had to admit, another guy with more personality might not be as fun for her to tease.

"A-Anyway," Sora continued, trying to steer the subject in another direction, "what should we do now that we're here?"

"We could kiss," she said in a mischievous yet nonchalant tone.

"Or we could…"

"Kiss."

"Besides that, if you don't mind."

She giggled again, but didn't push it any further. Humming to herself, she sat down against the wall. "Sometimes I take naps when I'm skipping, but that doesn't really seem like something you do with two people. What do you usually do?"

Sora shrugged and slid his back down the wall so that he was sitting beside her. "Most of the time I'm with one of those guys, but since we can't go back out there with them, I'm not sure what there is to do…other than going back to class…"

Both teens looked at each other and made some kind of disgusted expression at Sora's suggestion. With only this last week of classes before exams, neither one of them saw the use in going to a bunch of review lessons that they wouldn't pay attention to anyway. Of course, cutting the entire week would probably get them in loads of trouble, so they still had to show up, if only for attendance.

"Hey, I just thought about something," said Kairi. "Who's your prom date?"

Taken aback by the sudden question, Sora was unable to stop his cheeks from burning up. "O-Oh, well…you know, just some girl… I doubt you know her…"

"Heehee, you don't have a date."

"I totally do!"

Lightly punching him on the shoulder, Kairi laughed. "No need to get so embarrassed, Sora. Lots of people go solo, but I'm betting you got turned down, judging from your reaction."

"It's not like that," Sora grumbled, slightly turning his face away from her. "I just didn't bother asking anyone. I don't exactly have a ton of female friends, anyway. Honestly, I haven't decided if I'm even going to it."

Out of nowhere, he suddenly felt a tight squeezing on his face, followed by his head being forcefully turned towards Kairi. The redhead had one hand held surprisingly tightly around his cheeks while she gave him what he could only describe as the most serious and stern expression she'd ever given him. Apparently, prom was a big deal for her.

"You can't be such a lame-ass, Sora!" she exclaimed in a tone reminiscent of Riku. "You're going to skip out on one of the biggest events of our high school lives just because you don't have a date?"

Tugging her hand off his face, Sora rubbed his cheeks and shrugged. "It's not just that; tickets are expensive. If I'm only going to have an okay time, then is there any point in shelling out a decent chunk of my paycheck?"

Bopping him on the head, Kairi groaned at his reasoning. "That's no excuse, Sora. I already know that you don't spend your money on anything fun, so you should have a whole bunch saved up. How about I promise a dance with you if you show up? Not a bad deal, hey? You get to see me all dressed up and fancy _and_ you get to dance with me!"

"Won't your date be upset?" Sora chuckled. "And, by the way, you never told me who _your _date was!"

Kairi waved off Sora's demanding tone and continued ranting on. "If he gets mad because I'm not clinging to him for the entire night, then that's his problem. Unless you're dating someone, you can't expect to hog them at a dance. Anyway, he goes to a different school, so I doubt you'd know him."

"You sure you're not just pretending to have a date?"

"Pfft, I wouldn't sink to that level if I didn't have a date," she teased. "Besides, he's more like a friend of a friend. I don't really feel like explaining the whole situation, but it's sort of as a favour to her that I agreed to let him be my date. Oh, that reminds me! She's coming too, so I could always set you up with her!"

Sora cocked his head back and raised an eyebrow before a smirk slowly formed across his lips. "Well, if she's anything like you, I think I'll pass."

"Rude," the redhead laughed and stuck her tongue out at him. "She's actually, like, the complete opposite of me, so you're in luck. You probably won't hit it off with her like you did with me, though."

"Uh, yeah, that only happened because the two times that I've met you, you were unconscious for some reason or other and then you ended up forcing me into some kind of…interesting situation."

"You know, I still don't believe that whole 'sniffing your face' thing."

As they laughed about their past meetings and the plans for prom, the last bell of the day rang, which was quickly followed by Roxas and Riku re-entering the building and walking past them without noticing they were there. Once the boys were out of sight, Kairi and Sora got up and started making their way down the stairs. With all the talk of prom and the realization that it was right around the corner, Sora now felt like he was on some kind of time limit, even though he still hadn't decided whether or not he was going.

Once they had reached the first floor and exited the building, Kairi suddenly jogged ahead a few steps and turned around, pointing a finger right at him. Hoping that nobody else would pay too much attention to the inevitable scene she was about to cause, Sora gulped and waited for her to do her thing.

"Sora!" she said loudly, which, to his embarrassment, caught the attention of quite a few people. "You had better buy a prom ticket by tomorrow, okay? I swear, if, after everything we've talked about, you decide not to go, then I'm going to punch you in the head and pull your hair and…and…and I'll bite you on the ear!"

Sora could only try to hide his face as the random passersby commented on what she'd just announced.

"Isn't that a bit abusive?"

"Shit, he's trying to stand her up."

"Whoa, what a babe!"

"Other than getting punched in the head, I'd let her do those things to me all night long."

Glancing up to see her grinning, Sora could only wonder how she remained so oblivious to her surroundings. Either that or she had learned to transcend the feeling of shame, which consequently meant doubling his own. As she turned around and waved to him while running off, the brunet could only stand there and wait until she was out of sight and the comments had been drowned out. Really, what planet was that girl from?!

Taking the first few steps on his trek home, Sora's lips curled up slightly, despite his embarrassment. Even as the source of all his headaches from her ridiculous antics, he wouldn't change her at all. Kairi was Kairi, and no matter what sort of hell she put him through, he was almost certain that he would come out still liking her (the keyword being 'almost').

Passing by a men's clothing store, he stopped to glance at some of the suits in the window. If he didn't want to get physically abused by Kairi, then he would have to rent a tux and buy his ticket. Just thinking about the amount of munny he would need for both of those made him cringe, but the idea of getting his ear bitten in a non-sensual way didn't sound so appealing. Sighing and continuing his walk home, Sora silently said goodbye to a large portion of his paycheck.

キングダムハーツキングダムハーツキングダムハーツ

The last two weeks of school flew by, and before Sora knew it, it was the morning before prom. His finals were over, and his wallet had reluctantly lost some weight, though he couldn't deny that Kairi was right about still having a significant amount saved up in his bank account. With the actual celebrations not taking place until nighttime, he and Riku were busy getting ready at his apartment.

"Man, I am glad those finals are over!" Riku sighed and adjusted his tie in the mirror. "Seriously, math yesterday was brutal. What'd you get for the last question?"

Trying to think back on what the question was, Sora scratched his head while trying to figure out how to fold his pocket square. "Uh…I think it was 68√5 + 14_x_. Why, what'd you get?"

"…3…"

"I don't even want to know how you got to that answer…"

Chuckling, Riku finished tightening his tie and began buttoning up his vest. "Eh, who gives a crap, anyway? Exams are done and now we get to let loose tonight!"

Despite agreeing to Kairi's convincing, Sora still wasn't sure that he wanted to go tonight. It would be a waste of his munny not to at this point, but this, along with commencement in a few days, were supposed to be like a final sendoff into the real world. While that would seem like a big stepping-stone and accomplishment for most people, Sora felt like he had already graduated his life as a dependent kid. After all, he was paying rent on his own apartment, working most of the time, and basically managing the way that he probably would for the rest of his life. If he had wanted a graduation ceremony, it would have been back when he first moved out.

"You still never told me about this chick you're supposed to be going with," Riku said and took a seat across from Sora.

"I would have if I knew who she was," Sora chuckled dryly, tucking the square into his jacket pocket after finally managing to get it right. "She's supposed to be one of Kairi's friends. I think her name was Fuu?"

"Asian girl, nice."

"You realize that our names are Asian too, right…?"

Riku ignored Sora's comment and continued. "Hopefully she's hot, but I'm kind of curious why you didn't ask Kairi. I mean, she's a total babe, and I know you keep saying you don't want a relationship with her, but asking her to prom wouldn't have meant much."

Sora responded nonchalantly as he put on his jacket and checked himself in the mirror. "Well, you already knew I wasn't even planning on going until recently. The only reason I am is because she forced me to, and by that point she already had a date."

Shrugging, Riku rummaged through his bag for a moment before pulling out a small black box. Turning to see what it was, Sora rolled his eyes as Riku pulled out a couple of Cuban cigars. The silver-haired teen offered one to Sora, who simply shook his head in response.

"Are you even trying to quit?" Sora asked as Riku put the extra one back. "Seems like you're smoking more than ever nowadays."

"Hey, now, this is different," Riku responded, twirling the fat, plastic-wrapped cigar around his fingers. "Cigars are celebratory, Sora. Actually, I was planning on slowing down after tonight. Something like three a day and after getting laid only."

"If you tell that to Xion, then you won't be getting any action for a long time."

"Who said I'd only be getting some from her?"

"I don't get how you can talk like that so easily."

"Said the virgin."

Sora shook his head and sat back at the table. It was true that Riku had slept around a bit, but he had also never cheated on a girl he was with. From Sora's point of view, it would make more sense to flaunt around the latter than the former, or at least for him not to make it seem like he would cheat. _Technically,_ Riku still wasn't dating Xion, but it would be news to Sora if his best friend had actually gone through with having sex with a different girl.

"Moving on," Sora sighed, "what time do you have to go to Xion's? I doubt she would approve of you smelling like smoke, especially if the scent sticks to your tux."

"I should probably go in a few minutes," Riku said as he checked his watch. "You can relax, though; since you're not gonna smoke one with me, I'm gonna wait until we meet up with other people that are willing to do it. As long as we smoke outside, it won't stick as easily."

"Somehow I don't think that'll make her feel any better…"

As usual, Riku simply shrugged it off, leaving Sora wondering once again why Xion actively _chose_ to be with him. If he were a girl, Sora wasn't sure that he would like someone like Riku for more than a week at most. Luckily, that wasn't a problem he had to deal with, as he wasn't trying to hook up with a promiscuous girl, let alone with anyone at all right now.

The two boys continued killing time by talking and fixing up their tuxedos until Riku had to leave. With nothing to do, Sora slumped down onto the couch and flipped on the small TV in the corner of the room. Personally, he would have liked to stay in his regular clothes until he had to leave, but with Riku coming over to get ready in the morning and Roxas coming back home with their aunt and uncle later, he knew he would have to get ready. Of course, they hadn't told him when they were coming over, so he couldn't wait until the last minute to get dressed up.

As he mindlessly watched the random police drama on the screen, Sora wondered what Kairi might be doing right now. Most likely, she had probably been up early this morning and was still getting ready right now. She had never said if her parents came home to take pictures, but he could only assume that at least one of them had. After all, even though Sora only had his brother, aunt, and uncle, all three of them had taken off work and were coming over to do just that.

It was probably an hour, maybe two, before the sound of the lock turning caught Sora's attention. Turning off the TV, he stood up right as Roxas stepped through the doorway with Cloud and Tifa right behind him. With the three of them dressed semi formally, it seemed funny that they were all gathering in this small apartment instead of at Cloud and Tifa's house.

"Hey, looking sharp, bro," Roxas chuckled.

"Not bad, though you could've done something about that hair," Cloud jeered and set down a large envelope on the table.

"You two are too sarcastic," Tifa scolded lightly before turning to Sora and smiling. "You look very handsome, Sora."

"Heh, uh, thanks," Sora said sheepishly, scratching the back of his neck. "Other than the tie, I wasn't sure how most of this other stuff was supposed to go on."

"Mm, it doesn't look like you got any of it wrong," Tifa mused, circling around him to make sure everything was right. "If it makes you feel better, you clean up a lot nicer than Cloud does."

"Usually I'd argue, but today is about you so I'll let it go," Cloud chuckled. Walking over to pat his nephew on the shoulder, he softened his tone and expression. "Seriously, though, you guys grew up so quick. I know I said it when you moved out, but I can't believe that ten years have already gone by since we took you in."

"Me neither," Sora agreed, thinking back on the day that he and Roxas first started living with their aunt and uncle. Back then, he was just a scared little kid without a place he could call home, and now he was an independent man in the working world.

"Before we get too sentimental," Roxas butted in, "we should probably get these pictures taken."

"Right, right," Tifa said, pulling out a digital camera from her purse. "Roxas, go stand next to Sora; we'll start with you two."

For the next few hours, Sora strained his cheeks to pose for pictures with his family. He wasn't even sure how they managed to kill so much time; after all, there were only so many combinations four people could take pictures in. Still, he wasn't unhappy with the time they spent, as it was rare that the four of them got together for something other than a meal or holiday.

"You're flying solo tonight?" Cloud asked once they had stopped taking pictures.

"No, but it's sort of like a blind date," Sora explained, feeling a bit embarrassed by the situation. "One of my friends set me up with her friend."

"I still think you should've taken Kairi," Roxas sniffed. "I know you said she already had a date, but that's because you waited too long."

"She probably already had a date by the time I met her at school," Sora said with a shrug.

"Well, I'm still glad you decided to go," Tifa said, taking a sip of tea. "Actually, I was a bit worried when you first told us you weren't planning to. I thought you were going through some kind of depression or something."

"That's why you're a personal trainer and not a psychologist," Sora chuckled. Before anyone could say anything else, his phone started buzzing in his pocket. Checking what the message said, he put the phone back in his pocket and slid his chair out a bit. "Well, Riku says he's waiting out front, so I should probably get going now."

"Have fun, hon," Tifa said, waving as he made his way to the door.

"Knock 'em dead, kid," Cloud added. "Also, this envelope is for you when you get back. Call it a grad gift."

Nodding to them and stepping through the door, Sora quickly made his way to the elevator and headed to the ground floor. Perhaps it was because he had been getting ready all day, or maybe it was because prom was now only a short time away, but Sora couldn't deny that he was actually beginning to get a bit excited for the event. If he didn't think about all the munny he'd spent on it, there were quite a few more pros than cons, one of the best ones being that he would get to see Kairi get all primped up.

"Yo," Riku greeted as Sora got into his car.

"Hey, looking good, Sora," Xion giggled.

"Whoa, Xion, you look great," Sora said as he sat beside her, genuinely impressed by how she looked in her long, dark green dress.

"Heehee, thanks."

""Great?" Sora, you mean she looks super hot, right?" Riku laughed, beginning to drive.

"That's exactly what I meant," he laughed along.

It wasn't long before Riku pulled into the parking lot at the event hall where their prom was being held. Taking a few minutes to find a spot in the crowded lot, the three of them clambered out of the car and casually made their way toward the entrance.

Sora checked his phone to see if Kairi had messaged him at all. While he wasn't expecting anything like a picture of her, he did want to know if she was here yet, especially since he didn't know how she looked or where he was supposed to meet her. Unfortunately, his phone came up blank, and she probably wouldn't notice her phone if he tried messaging her now. Sighing as he slid it back into his pocket, he looked up, scanning over the other people who were entering the building up ahead.

"You seem pretty anxious right now," Xion teased him. "Looking for someone?"

"Yeah, he's looking for the total babe that isn't his date," Riku laughed, earning himself an elbow in the ribs from Xion.

"W-Well, she is showing up with my date, though," Sora stammered, though it was true that he was more looking forward to seeing Kairi than his mystery date.

Luckily for him, the search didn't take long, as the sound of someone calling Sora's name instantly caught the attention of all three of them.

"Sora!"

Looking over, Sora's eyes lit up at the sight of Kairi waving over to him. Simply seeing her, he felt his voice catch in his throat, and was unable to call back to her, so he had to settle for waving back. Her pink dress billowed out at her waist, unlike Xion's slim, wavy dress. From here, he was unable to see the necklace around Kairi's neck, but the glint it gave off in the sunset's light told him that it was probably pretty fancy. Her hair was also pinned up in a way that probably took her hours to get right, and overall, he was left in awe at her appearance.

"K-Kairi," he stuttered once they got up to her. "You look… Y-You look…"

"I think the word you're looking for is sexy," Riku said, earning another elbow to the ribs.

"Heehee, geez, you're embarrassing me," Kairi giggled and gave Sora the up-down look. "You look really good, Sora, _sexy_ even."

Unable to figure out how to respond to her teasing, Sora simply dropped his gaze downward and blushed. Even as they laughed at his bashfulness, Sora couldn't seem to keep his composure long enough to look back up. It wasn't until Kairi put her hand under his chin and forced him to look up that he did.

"Come on, now, you don't want to look like an embarrassed little kid for Fuu, do you?" Kairi asked rhetorically, grinning all the while. "Perfect timing, too, here she comes."

Turning to look in the direction Kairi was facing, Sora spotted the two people that Kairi appeared to be waving to. One was a girl with lavender hair who was wearing a flowing, purple dress. He had to assume that was Fuu, as the other person was a guy, presumably Kairi's date. As they got closer, Sora suddenly began to tense up. Initially, he wasn't able to get a good view of the guy walking with Fuu, but now that he could see him, Sora wondered how _he_ of all people ended up as Kairi's date.

"Well, well, long time no see, Gainsborough," he greeted maliciously, pulling out a box of smokes from his pocket.

As much as Sora wanted to leave right this moment, possibly taking Kairi along with him, he knew he couldn't do that. Working with him before he got fired had been bad enough (especially since that meant he was bad enough to get fired by Axel of all people), but Sora thought that he would never have to run into this guy again. He would have been content to maybe pass him by on the streets every once in a while without so much as a word to one another. Sadly, it couldn't be that simple, and to make matters worse, Riku seemed to be happy to have found a smoking buddy for the night.

Taking a noticeable breath and glaring right back at the taller teen, Sora put all his effort into keeping his voice from sounding too disgusted.

"Tch, yeah, it sure has been…Seifer."

* * *

Again, apologies for the long wait. It actually took me a lot longer to write this chapter than usual, mostly because I didn't know where I was going with it when I started. I wasn't actually going to bring in their prom this early, but I couldn't think of how else to fill in space until then, so it ended up coming in now. In any case, it should work fine, as there aren't any big events that I'm working towards until about two-thirds or three-quarters of the way through the story.

Next chapter is going to continue directly off of this one, and depending on the length or how things turn out, it may lead into their commencement as well, but I'll have to see how everything goes down. Regardless, if commencement isn't at the end of next chapter, it'll be the beginning of the following one.

Thanks to **Drzhar, , Guest, DarkAceKirby, **and **xamsiras **for reviewing!

Thanks for reading and please review!

–_GengaJupite_


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